/ 




Book, E31-3_£^ 
CopightN" iHZ- 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



By the same Author 

"THE DOUBLE LOVE " 

A Drama of American Life 

THE JOHN C. WINSTON CO. 
Philadelphia 



COLUMBUS 



A DRAMA 



WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES 



BY 

ARTHUR DOUGHERTY REES 



THE JOHN C. WINSTON CO. 
PHILADELPHIA 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Csoy Received 

NOV 14 1907 

Copyricht Entry 
COPY B. 






Copyright 1907 

BY 

A. D. REES 




A Castile y a Leon, 
Nuevo Mundo 
dio Colon." 



INTRODUCTION, 



It is a truism in our time to say that History is not 
merely the biography of "Great Men"; — the result of 
impulses and deeds of their exclusive making, leadership 
or ideals. It is the resultant of human and non-human 
forces. For example: the Dnieper River in Russia had 
much to do with the introduction of Greek Christianity 
and Byzantine culture into the Muscovite Empire. The 
human leadership of Vladimir the Holy alone could not 
produce such transplantations. 

The ''Hero" or ''Great Man" of any particular epoch 
is the lever on which the Age Forces press. He repre- 
sents the Past or the Future; rarely the present, for 
social conditions are not static long enough, nor are they 
ever sufficiently ideal to any high type of doer or thinker. 
Columbus represented the Future and his life was pro- 
ductive of great deeds because he came just at the inter- 
section of conflicting ages and conditions. He was in 
servitude to his environment ; to the "Zeitgeist" and such 
willing slavery as his, vastly increased the possibilities 
of his life. Tho the economic conditions of Europe 
determined the discovery of new lands in the time of 
Columbus, yet he was not so conscious of them as of 
forces that touched his personality more directly, namely : 
his geographical knowledge and maritime experience, his 
conviction of a religious inspiration in his quest, and the 

(7) 



8 COLUMBUS 

Sea-call in his soul. His stated objects were: the attain- 
ment of new and safer ways to India; the discovery of 
new islands and a study of their people; the improve- 
ment of trade ; the conversion of the "Heathen" and the 
acquisition of wealth to be devoted to the recovery of 
Jerusalem from the Turks. 

Columbus had, as Socrates, his "Daemon"; not one. 
however, that prompted his conscience, so much as it 
spurred him to his quest and gave a holy enthusiasm to 
his life. His religious inspiration had an economic sanc- 
tion and the economic need — European expansion, — had 
a religious ally. 

The reason the Northmen did not discover America 
as we credit Columbus with so doing, is that they were 
prompted merely by the Spirit of adventure. The new 
home they found was better than Iceland, but thither 
they returned. There was no economic pressure behind 
them to lead others to exploit the discoveries, as there 
was in the time of Columbus. The Northmen's coming, 
— a mere isolated biographical fact, — made very little 
history, whereas if there had been a wide-spread neces- 
sity of it, American life would have been much different, 

Columbus, however, is given the credit of discovering 
America, because he was three-fold more fortunate than 
the Northmen. He had not only the Spirit of adven- 
ture, but a religious inspiration, and at his back, the 
pressure of the Renaissance life; of Europe's expanding 
industry, art and learning, and of her inquisitive people, 
ready to follow his pioneering across the Great Deep, to 
establish colonies and secure wealth. 



COLUMBUS 9 

Economic forces peopled America in the early days, but 
not for two hundred years thereafter, — or until the 
pioneers had stronger religious motives than economic 
ones, — did anything like real civilization begin. 

Columbus himself, was a composite of a religious, 
poetic, visionary, adventuresome and commercial spirit. 
There was no priest with the three caravels on the first 
voyage. This is significant of other things than the truth 
that the Great Mariner was priest enough himself. 

America, no doubt, would have been discovered in his 
time, even if he had not led the way, but the Age-forces 
put their hands upon the best man for the work and 
thundered in his soul: "Cross the Western sea to other 
lands." Columbus obeyed their bidding; converted the 
voice into his own "Daemon" and thereby developed his 
own character; his almost unrivalled bravery, his iron 
will, his boundless faith and made for himself an im- 
mortal place in human history. 

There is exceeding grandeur in his untameable per- 
sistence in his quest and great justice in his demands for 
its rewards, titles of achievement and compensations. His 
humble origin probably led him to exaggerate the dig- 
nities, and, no doubt, to risk everything he had in the 
pursuit of his aims. He received, for a little while, the 
great prizes of success. 

It matters but a wee that the detractors of Columbus 
say that he was "greedy, boastful and lying." He was 
not perfect and needs not be defended in a mood of great 
anxiety. His tremendous orbit had its aberrations, but 
it will not do to forget that his pride, his indomitableness 



10 COLUMBUS 

and buoyancy of spirit, were essentials in his work. It 
was inevitable that a man of such a temperament would 
meet with rebuff, scorn and, at times, defeat. 

The requisites of his survival and success as an 
initiator and discoverer did not serve him so well as an 
administrator in Hispaniola and in his later years led 
him into some vagaries. I think, however, that he would 
ultimately have done much better in the island than his 
immediate successors, — Bobadilla and then Ovando, — 
who were not men of such principle or strength as Co- 
lumbus, and performed no better service. In fact, the 
regime of oppression and cruelty began with the depar- 
ture of the Admiral. Spanish Administration had a long 
trial and failed. In general it began in 1500 and ended 
in 1900. Did not its almost unbelievable cruelties, greed 
and mismanagement at last result in the expulsion of its 
power from the Western Hemisphere? The ''Mills of 
the gods," etc. Retribution came in four hundred years 
and Eternal Principles triumphed over the artificial 
Lordship of Spain. 

3fC 3fC «)C 3(C 3J* 5|C 

The original impulse of this play was a desire to 
depict the greater emotional periods in the life of Co- 
lumbus and to picture the incessant conflict that beset 
his days. 

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 
May, 1907. 



PERSONS REPRESENTED, 



Christofal Colon^ a Genoese Mariner; later ''Admiral 

of the Ocean" 
Juan Perez^ Prior of the Franciscan Convent, ''Santa 

Maria de Rahida" ; Sometime confessor to the 

Queen, 
Diego de Deza, a Dominican friar; also professor of 

Theology at St. Stephens Convent, Salamanca; later 

Bishop of Palencia, then Archbishop of Seville, 
Dona Isabella, Queen of Spain, 
Don Ferdinand, King of Spain. 

Ferdinand de Talevera, Bishop of Avila; later Arch- 
bishop of Granada. 
Pedro Gonzales, Archbishop of Toledo, Grand Cardinal 

of Spain, 
Gonzales de Mendoza, Most Reverend Cardinal of 

Spain. 
Juan Rodriguez de Fonseca, Archdeacon of Seville; 

later Bishop of Palencia. 
Alonso de Cardenas, Commendador Mayor of Castile. 
Garcia Fernandez, a physician of Palos. 
Pedro de Velasco, a mariner of Palos. 
Vincente Yanez Pinzon, Captain of the ca/ravel 

"Nina." 

(II) 



12 COLUMBUS 

Martin Alonzo Pinzon, Captain of the caravel "Pinta" 

Juan de la Cosa, Master and owner of the caravel 

"Santa Maria." 

Prince Juan. 

The Alcalde of Cadiz. 

Bartholomew Colon, ) „ , . , ., , . , 

v Brothers of the AdmiraL 
Diego Colon,, J 

Diego Colon, eldest son of Christofal Colon, 

Ferdinand Colon, natural son of Christofal Colon, 

Beatrice Enriquez, mother of Ferdinand Colon. 

Courtiers, mariners, friars, sailors, steward, boatswain; 

village youths and maidens, court ladies and attendants. 

An astronomer, a cosmographer, members of the Royal 

Choir, populace and natives of the West Indies. 
Time: 1488-1506. 
Scenes in or near Palos, Salamanca, Granada, At Sra, 

San Salvador, Barcelona, Cadis and Valladolid. 



COLUMBUS 



ACT I. 

Scene i. 

On an open road-side, near Palos, Spain, leading to the 
Convent Santa Maria de Rahida, whose white walls 
can he seen in the distance, standing on a low head- 
land about three miles from the sea. Parts of the 
village and of the sea itself, are visible dimly in the 
distance of the opposite direction. Four youths and 
two maidens are conversing and lounging on the 
grass. 

Juan. Look; here he comes! {Pointing.) It's he who 
says the Earth is round ! 
{Enter Col., dusty and downcast; leading his son Diego 
by the hand.) 

Alvaro. He? Aha, the Earth is as flat as his dull wit. 

Sancho. Nay : his wit being in a round head must be 
round too and hollow like an old tree. 

Alv. Right you are. Such wit has no more base 
than a rolling stone. One gathers no moss, the 
other no gold. (They laugh; Col. stops. Looks at 
them.) 

Pero. He'd have the Earth as round as a plum from 
Cadiz. 

Juan. Aha, like a comma with its tail off. 

(13) 



14 COLUMBUS 



Pero. I'll go one finer than that. Round as Anita's 
eye! 



Alv. Better still : round as Giotto's O, ha ! ha ! 
tie finer than that. 

{The girls laugh.) 
Anita. Lovely ! 
Juan. He does great courtesy to our mariners by his 

contradictions. 
Alv. Ha! that's like a Genoese. 
Col. Young men, give up your slurring words. Do 

not breed your faults by casting slights on me. 
Juan. The Earth is round, Sir ; it is round ! 
Col. Ah, what aptness is in ignorance to jest with 

truth and make it seem a folly. 

(He and his son pass onward.) 
Pero. Why, the Earth must be haltered in the air 

without a tether if it's round. 
Juan. Ah, it is hitched properly below us somewhere. 

Every thing has its halter but that man's roving wit. 
Alv. Put a halter on him then ; every ass needs one. 
San. They did that in Lisbon ; I overheard him tell a 

mariner as much. 
Pero. Aha! An ass to be sure. Now if his head 

were only as big as his ears ! 
Alv. Nay, nay, for it would but wag the more then. 
San. (Pointing.) See, he's going to the white door. 
Juan. Tis true ; there he knocks. Well, when wit is 

wanting, the tongue goes begging and the cheeks 

get quickly brazed to it. 
San. His wit knows this: that his foot won't slip 

there. 



COLUMBUS 



15 



Juan. {To Alv.) Ah well, his feet pulled him out of 

here, so let him be. 
Alv. Let him be? No: we must watch him. When 

he gets in on the ground floor of his air-castle, he'l 

find it quicksands, and will need double aid. 
Juan. Oh, you're as bad as a tea-kettle Jew. Simmer 

down ; girls, a song ! 
Alv. I'd chafe him with little strokes and some time 

blast his folly. 
Juan. You are worse than the waves that fret the 

pebbles. Come; let your tide ebb a while. 
Alv. Yes, if Anita will go out with it. We'l sail 

together. 
Pero. Anita's the pilot of my caravel, and we going 

to rest on the Pillows of Hercules. 
Alv. Aha, Pillows of Hercules ! You mean Pillars 

of Hercules. 
Juan. PI play Samson and overthrow them. But lets 

have a song first. Anita, warble some melody of 

love. (Anita sings.) 




Re - ward my song with him who sails thy 



i6 



COLUMBUS 




=g=p 



±=t 



:*^ 



^ 



S* 



I court the main With this re 



fraia! 



■A R- 



^Z±± 



Yield, O yield the heart 



crave; 



-^im 



Waft 



him home - ward o'er 



thy 



O chas-ten bil- lows, storms, and calm thy plain! 



$ 



m 



Ke - turn, O 



love, My breast heaves for thee! 



m 



^t 



i 



Hear me a - bove the mur - mur - ing sea! 

Pero. Pretty song, Anita, but it does no felicitation 

to me. 
Anita. It was not sung to you. 
Juan. If I were sailing now, Aha ! I'd put about to 

port for the Siren of Palos. 
Pero. If I had hoofed over the sea in seven-league 

boots for a week, Anita, I'd sprint back in a day for 

hearing that song. 
Anita. Oh, lovely! (Sings again.) 



COLUMBUS 17 

Return O love, 
My breast heaves for thee; 

Hear me above 
The murmuring — sea ! 

Maria. Oh, what foppery in the breach of adventure 

on the seas to pursue love for a song that can't soar 

as far as an imfledged sea-gull ! 
Pero. Maria, Maria, can't you sing something for us ? 
Maria. No ; for you would only make a joke of it. 
Pero. Maria, you are talking falsetto and singing 

nothing. Give us a song. 
Maria. I'm not keyed for the ballad-makers just now. 
Juan. Aha, your spirits must be bolted down very 

well. 
Pero. Maria, how long since your soul's been so 

riveted to Earth? 
Maria. Anita ; come, let's run off ! 
Anita. Yes, let's. Now that the poor mariner's gone 

they tease us. 

(Maria and Anita hurry out toward Palos.) 
Juan. After them, fellows ! 
Pero. Back to the town! 
Sancho. Ho ! for the lassies ! 

(They jump up and run after the girls,) 



i8 COLUMBUS 

Scene 2. 

(a) EvMng at the Convent Santa Maria de Rabida; 
in a large room, sparsely furnished with a plain table 
and a few chairs. Doors to the right and left. 
Rafters stretch across from above the windows of 
the outer wall to the inner; a few religious pictures 
are hanging around. Colon and his son Diego are 
seated near the table partaking of bread and wine. 
Two of his maps lie open upon it. Seated around 
about and looking upon them are Juan Perez^ Prior 
of the Convent; three friars, Garcia Fernandez, 
a physician of Palos and Pedro de Velasco, a pilot. 
Colon has been telling them of his projects and his 
reasons therefor. He resumes. 
Col. I almost begged my way from place to place 
To offer princes gold from other lands, 
And poise my steps upon the westernmost 
Horizons of the sea, — thus reaches the isles 
Beyond. But no ! They thrust me forth, alas ! 
And many of my maps were seized for debt. 
My friends? Ah, where are they! To them am I 
Whole dreamer and half-ass; untamed, unproved. 
I fled betimes across the border lines 
For being maligned, misunderstood and scoffed, — 
Yes, ev'n by the ruffians on that road, — (Pointing) 
Just as a lean and uncouth dog, my friends, 
In loneliness I sought another place. 
Juan. As He who had nowhere to lay His head. 
Col. Friendly Franciscan, twelve years of misery 
In my endeavors lie before thy door. 



COLUMBUS 19 

My dream arises with the sun which lures 
Me to the Magnet-Deep, yet goeth down 
Alone each day, whilst I but gaze at it. 
Ah! Shall my project ever be fulfilled? 

Juan. My son, I verily believe it will. 

Col. I have a niche within the world's affairs. 
For I am justly born; a need of life 
Hath giv'n me being; the economy 
Of facile forces, knitting law and love. 
Doth drift into the spiritual and make 
Security and Faith but natural things, 
Which give anon acquittance from the doubt 
That tries approach on intermittent tides. 

Juan. My son, thy faith shall harbour thee in time. 
It is the herald of Man's every gain, 
Whereby the spirit, tho it has suffered much 
Rebuilds the crumbled pillars of its quest. 

Col. I have no stammering faith, but look on those 
In power in the world, — in Portugal, — 
See their occulted cringe to status quo 
With eyes upon the land and not the sea, 
Eclipsing my expectancy of gain 
And scattering my brood of hopes. 

Juan. Have peace 

For God revokes not nor commutes his charge 
And that which sometimes seems His tardiness 
Is man's impatient vanity itself. 

Col. Ah, how, they amble in their ignorance, 
And chew the cud of fear until the pith 
Of little right is ground well out of it ! 



30 COLUMBUS 

But when I sail yon sea to India's land 
Their timid spirits will disown such food. 

Fern. 'Tis then, Colon, that their antipathies 
Will reach their own antipodes ! 

Col. {Smiling sadly.) Perhaps! 

So you believe me then ? 

Fern. I do, Colon, 

And have considered the rotundity 
Of this, our world, a reasonable thing. 

CoL. Praise God ! And you, my pilot friend ? 

Vel. Good Sir, I have suspicions of its truth 
In a sufficient strength to make a try. 

CoL. O blessed Penury that led me here ! 
Thou art a pensioner of Providence 
Whose leisure plagues our human haste ! 

Juan. My son 

The sympathy I bear thee prompts my help, 
ri give thee letters to the Spanish Court ; 
To Talevera who'l speak to the King 
And Queen in thy behalf. I would do more 
If I had power. 

Fern. I'l speak for thee in Palos 
And give thy story and its truth 'mongst us 
A better current than it's had before ; 
Much better than the rude, scant chivalry 
Of road side mockers can afford. 

Col. I am among my own at last ! Good friends 
Ye do infect me with mine earlier hope. 
I dream again ; I hitch my spirit to 
The traces of the Sun, — its slanted shafts 



COLUMBUS 21 

Which pour from Heaven upon the darkening sea ; — 
Then grasp the waving mane of Phoebus steeds 
And point their panting nostrils to the West 
Where Hes Cipango's isle! Ah, what a flight! 
Matchless Hegira of our modern world, 
Whereby our epoch flees the sepulchre 
That prematurely would confine its spirit! 

Juan. {Pouring out more zvine into his cup.) Well 
done, my son, well done. I love thee well. 

Fern. I love thee too and for thy cause, my words 
Shall soon re-issue into deeds of worth. 

CoL. And ye I love well, and do thank my God 
He has delivered me unto this place. 
O Joy, that clears my vista unto Heaven, 
Make solid and secure for heavier steps 
This airy path my soul doth wander in ! 

Juan. Ah, we shall trust our God for that, my son. 

1ST Fr. {Arising.) Ah, 'tis all blasphemy, blasphemy, 

Col. No, no! 

2ND Fr. Thou makest God a trickster. 

Juan. That is not so. 

Col. {To Juan.) Show them my maps again; 'tis 
all so plain 

1ST Fr. {Moving to the door.) Do maps disprove 
the Holy Writ? 

{Goes out.) 

2ND Fr. {Arising.) 
Nor will I stay to hear such wicked words. 

{Goes out.) 

Juan. Do not be troubled. I believe thee, son. 



22 COLUMBUS 

Col. There is a peacefulness within these walls 
That palace-sides do not envelop, nor 
The scope of courtiers hearts enshrine; a peace 
That doth re-energize my soul 

Juan. Colon, 

Remain. with us until thy rest is taken 
And with the letters I shall write for thee 
Thou shalt be welcomed at the Court. 

Col. And then 

ri cast my apparitions into deeds 
Whose impress on our epoch shall remould 
Its gibbering tongue unto a valorous spech ; 
Its fears unto such royal works, the world 
Will say, my spirit hath God's armor on; 
My soul's indentured to divine employ, 
And my successes, — like Promethean fire, — 
Have true resemblance unto Heavenly things! 

Juan. Thy spirit's so elastic, that in its 
Swift rise upon the scale of Hope 
I am transported with it. 

Col. Ah, my hope, 

God-given, is the prompter in my soul. 

Juan. Preserve it well ; thou'l need it long time yet 
The sea will not extinguish its pure fire 
So soon as such long droughts of sympathy 
That thou hast had ; as thou, perhaps, shalt have. 

CoL. 'Tis true, good friar, so let the ocean pour 
As fuel in the fissure of my heart; 
It would rekindle hope! Its flood would seethe 
In contact with the latent heat therein. 



COLUMBUS 23 

Ye fathoms ; — see, my heart is big, so drench 
The cleavage there, the sea-change shall confer 
An endless hope. O beat no more upon 
Unriven rocks ; they will not ope ! Look ; here's 
My heart, dying for want of ye^ pour in ! 
The fixed land will not outcrowd ye there; 
'Tis jealous of your mobile forms ; 'twould wilt 
My hope. O! I have loved thee ever; come! 

Juan. The sea hath long been in thy heart, my son : 
Thy heart was bedded in the waves at birth. 
Its beatings are's unfailing as the sea's; 
Each one prophetic, seeking too, its shore, — 
The consummation of thy soul's desire, — 
Whither they carry, tho retarded now. 
True tokens from the Deep, from Infinite God. 
And like the compass needle, pointing ever 
Unto the North, thy true hopes lead thee well, 
And fluctuate but little after all. 

Col. They now point to the Spanish Court, my friend 

Juan. Ah, let them point to God, my son ; believe 
Life's greatest triumphs, truest pleasures are 
Not in sweet gambols, but in growths to God; 
In charging sin and counter-charming sense, 
For strength and husbandry of soul. 

Col. I do believe that God hath sent me here. 

3RD Fr. I will not listen to such sinful talk. 

[Goes out hurriedly.] 

Juan. {After a pause.) But I shall send thee hence 
to those who have 
Great power in Spain. 



24 COLUMBUS 

Col. This cup of wine, this bread 

Sustains me till the morn; thy words, thy love. 
Thy faith, good friar, will always bless. 

Juan. May God 

Bless thee, my son ; now go to rest. 

Col. I shall. 

Diego, come with me ; let us retire. 

{To the others.) 
Good friends, my slumber shall be much more sound 
To night, and my heart thanks you for your words. 
(CoL. and Juan arise. At this moment two other friars 
of the Convent enter.) 

Fern. Good night. I'l help thee as I can. 

Vel. And I; 

Good night. 

Juan {To the Friars.) Brothers, this is Colon, a 
mariner 
Whom I have sheltered from the world awhile 
He hath told us that he believes our Earth 
Is round, not flat; a globe. He wants to sail 
The sea due west unto the Indian shore. 

1ST Fr. {Amazed.) The world is round? 

2ND Fr. Round? 'Tis quite preposterous. 

(CoL. merely gazes at them.) 

Juan. Be not alarmed. God still is God withal. 
We may be oft surprised or vexed with truth. 
But He is calm and sure. 

1ST Friar. The world is round? 
'Twas flat five thousand years, but now despite 



COLUMBUS 25 

God's word, man's lore, it shifts into a globe 
Because a mariner deems it so? 

Juan. Have care. 

2ND Fr. Round? Round? Our Earth a globe you say? 
What props it then. Sir? This appals my sense. 

Col. Good night; good night. {Moving away,) 

Juan. This way. {Leads Col. and Diego to the 
door at the right.) 

CoL. God bless us all ! 

{The three go out together.) 
1ST Fr. I can not understand this. 
2ND Fr. Nor I. 

Fern. The Prior 

Will soon explain it to you. Good night. 
Pedro, let us go. 
Velas. Good night. (Fern and Velas. approach 

the door at the left.) 
1ST Fr. Good night. 
2ND Fr. Good night. 

{They go out.) 
1ST Fr. Let us go seek the Prior and that man 
To hear his story fuller. Come. 

{Re-enter Juan.) 

Juan. Brothers, 

Now let me tell you this : you know him not ; 
Grudge nought. Give him an open mind and love 
For they alone can understand; they bring 
The upland sunlight in the vales. Now go. 
I wish to be alone. 



26 COLUMBUS 

1ST Fr. We shall. 

2ND Friar. Good night, 

{They go out; Juan remains alone ^ in meditation.) 



ACT II. 
Scene i. 



At the court of Ferdinand and Isabella in Salamanca. 
In a hall of Hispano-Moresque design and decorative 

description. Doors of horse-shoe arches at the hack; 

perforated work above them. Moorish detail about; 

colors very pronounced. Ferdinand and Isabella, 

Bishop Talevera, Cardinal Mendoza, courtiers^ 

ladies and attendants are in their respective places, 

azuaiting the arrival of Colon, (b) 
IsAB. Let us not hurt the good man's heart, altho 
We may prescribe his judgment better guides 
Than maps and guesses of geographers. 

Ferd. Whatever pricks his dream, will scratch his 

heart. 
For proud Ambition's huge expansiveness 
Doth clothe it closer as the vision mounts, 
Whose prejudged comliness or truth prepares 
His Hope's ascent with it, — and then — the fall ! 

IsAB. O such alternate rise and set of dreams 
Fill me with pity for collapsing souls ! 
I know the rythm of my hopes and fears 
O'er yon Granada's conquest. But where is 
This dreamer, bold and strange? Let's see his face 



COLUMBUS 27 

It may be lighted with some truth just as 
The sea that he would sail is sunlit now. 
(CoLON^ dressed plainly, holding several charts in his 
hand and attended by Archbishop Gonzalez, 
enters. They approach the King and Queen.) 

GoNz. Your Majesties, this is Cristofal Colon, 
Who would relate all his desires to you. 

IsAB. Good man, come forward; tell us of your 
dream. 
Unlatch the door of candor and dissolve 
All reticence. 

Col. (After homing to them.) Your Majesty, I 
thank you. 
Ferd. You're welcome here to tell us of your quest. 
Pursue it to the end ; we'l yield the grace 
Of listening ears ; th'intake of heart and head 
Shall be perenially equal. Now proceed. 

Col. (With great dignity.) I'm he who hath an 
errand o'er the main ; 
The Deep doth call me; I have heard its voice. 
My name is Christo-ferens, Christ-bearer, 
By God's command over the restless waves. 
In Genoa born ; an alien to your realm ; 
My family humble, but my birthright high. 
I am a mar'ner; maker of maps and charts, 
Perusing which and adding thereto, all 
The nautical knowledge of our age, I have 
Conceived our Earth to be rotund, not flat. 
(Twitterings and murmurs of surprise among all. Col. 
looks about silently.) 



28 COLUMBUS 

Ferd. 'Tis well such visions can not tamper with 
Reality. 

IsAB. You do astonish me. 

Col. For twelve long years my soul's white heat 
Has tried to weld the world unto my prophecy. 
It has not knit, and now my heart more tempered, 
By this ill-foddered flame, — my misprized zeal, — 
Would flood your Majesties with all its power. 

IsAB. Speak on! 

Col. I fear enthusiasm is too great 
To let the tactful craft of sweet persuasion 
Dwell on my tongue and balance heart and head. 
Most gracious Sovereigns, this our rotund world 
By Ptolemy hath been divided 
In four and twenty hours for each day; 
And thus from Thinae, there in Asia, — west 
Unto Gibralter's straits, mark fifteen hours 
Of such diurnal time, and from that point 
Yet westward to the Cape Verd Isles and to 
The Azores have the Portuguese ships sailed. 
Thus, by those reclamations from the sea 
Have marked another hour; thence, westward to 
The eastward jutting Asian Capes, and then 
Beyond them unto Thinae, — that would add 
Eight more such hours and make our rounded world 
Complete. O mark, one seventh of the globe {c) 
Yet to traverse; but a short passage in 
A well provided, well built caravel 
Upon the over-apprehended sea 
That washes hither o'er its kind wilderness. 



COLUMBUS ap 

True signs of rich and scented lands: carved woods, 
And reeds like those of India's realm; strange flowers; 
Trunks of exotic pines and dead men who have 
Strange features. All these evidences are 
Corroborative of the learned men who taught 
That Neptune's salt domain doth bathe all shores. 

Ferd. O what imaginations these Italians have! 
He out-dreams Dante! 

IsAB. My good man, proceed. 

CoL. Pressure of economic circumstance 
Bids us find better paths and safer ways 
Unto the East or else our trade will die. 
And Europe bend the knee unto the Turk. 
With but your Majesties' approving aid, — 
By well-stored caravels, — with hope and faith, 
I'l circumscribe the seas and sail into 
The gaping West; find famed Cipango isle. 
And freight therefrom my galleys with its gold; 
Its precious stones and pearls ; reach India's land ; 
Bring riches unto Spain to thwart Mohammed's sword; 
Increase the opulent trade with Asia's realm; 
Behind me root the Cross ; sail hither home 
With an auroral glory from new deeds 
That will out-lustre the fresh gilded dawn 
Of ev'n the new-born world's most primal day! 

Ferd. Ah, man, what are you thinking of? 

IsAB. Proceed. 

Col. 'Tis Heaven that bends above my reveries 
And shadows them from superstitions of the age, 
That I may sweep across th'unconquered main 



30 COLUMBUS 

T'unbind the girder of our ignorance! 
No satyrs of the sea can thwart my will, 
Nor can a land born snare allure its power, 
For God, who plights a measure of Himself 
Doth hold collateral upon my soul 
For our joint contract's sake. My heart, my faith, 
Entwined within the network of His law, 
Are fixed and sure as swelling and tides and winds! 
Balefires of destiny illume my soul 
To show the watery paths of pilgrimage ! 
O Light, be nigh ! When I shall follow thee, 
I'l fear no deepness of the midnight sea! 
{All are affected by him. They relax by changing their 
positions, etc.) 

IsAB. Imagination will be martyred, Sir; 
Its fabulous clues are not, indeed, the proof 
Of things it dreams on. O ! it can not be. 

Ferd. Good man, what heresy to truth and lore 
Prompts such design, so lank in sinew ? Oh I 
So lax in commonsense! Sail west to India? 
The globe rotund? Aha, how many rims 
And fellies then must hitch the underworld 
To ours that looks on Heaven ! Do those below 
Walk with down-hanging heads? Absurd. Do they 
Tread thru the thin air with ungrounded limbs 
And find propulsion on their crowns? Aha! 
A most miraculous race. 

GoNZ. Would not our God 

Have long ago revealed these things to us 
Had they been true? 



COLUMBUS 31 

Col. All truth abides In Him 

Until a need or a desire of man 
Delving within his general being, mines 
From virgin seams, nuggets of truth, wrapped in 
The crude and angular ore ; which, well obliqued, 
By many uncouth slants, has hardened edges 
For the rough traffic of this unkind world. 

IsAB. You have not proved as unkind yet, good man 

Col. If listening be a portent of thy will 
And kindliness of aspect, gracious Queen, 
Bear sympathy of spirit unto my quest 
Thy Court will then retrieve the colder world. 

Ferd. Strange Mariner, what wouldst thou have it 
do? 

Col. Prepare me galists for a test of truth, 
For action is a proof of law ; make me 
By thine own seal-signed will an Admiral 
O'er all discovered seas, viceroy o'er lands 
That lie therein ; one tenth of gold and pearls 
Be given to me; the rest be thine and Spain's. 
My honors and my dignities for service 
To be perpetual in my family by thy will. 

(Murnmrs of surprise among all.) 

Ferd. Sir self-plumed Mariner, what bold conceit 
Makes thee to arrogate such high rewards? 
Thou art a foreigner too; our courtesy 
Unto the airy figment of thy quest 
Admits thee here, but not to claim such rank 
Upon unproved delusions, truthless dreams. 

Col. Sovereigns of Spain, abettors had I none 



32 COLUMBUS 

In my concept and resolution told, — 

And yet my thought is not so parentless 

Nor so unlineaged as my lone appeal 

Would prompt within your minds. — Despite of this 

The residence of such rewards and power 

Must be in him who's tenant of its risk; 

Whose will is conqueror; his, who has dived 

Into the breaking surge of circumstance, 

And hath bestridden the blast of contrary fate. 

Ferd. All such appropriations to thy self 
Are quite unfounded and too previous. Sir. 
Thy visions are the vogue of this queer age; — 
Mere gipsy-dreams that wander where they will. — 
Others have seen with most excited eyes 
New lands upon the distant seas ; they flee ! 
These fabulous stations in the mere, St. Brandons, 
Sev'n Cities, Brazil Isles, delusions all 
Of many damp deceiving airs. 

GoNz. They are. 

(Low and derisive laughs among the listeners.) 

Col. O God, rain power upon my tongue and grant 
My logic, lyric-speech, so there may be 
Inviolate sanctuary for my dream! 
The eager implorator hath with Thee 
An audience ungaudied by these laughs. 
So grant thereof transference to this Court. 
Ye Majesties of Spain, Most Sovereign Lords, 
I have heroic promptings in my heart! 
My visions brandish a compelling sword 
Which smites my soul; makes its impetuous being 



COLUMBUS 33 

Strain for the conquest of the crystal sea. 

Could I convene such visitings for you; 

Array and marshall them — the phalanx of 

My dreams of truth; — bid them do battle here, 

Their steadfastness would conjure your assent 

And their avouch of this, — our globular earth — 

Be yours as well. O lap your listening 

In natural favor; make affirmative 

Address unto the spirit that leads me forth 

To follow up all such persistent clues 

That soon would yield to Spain much wealth and power. 

O give me means to sail! Strong caravels; 

Not argosies with silken wings, but these: 

Well timbered hulks to cleave pugnacious waves 

That fain would beat their bold and jutting prows 

And crush their sides. 

Ferd. What! Give thee caravels 

While war so frays the fisc and Moors go free? 
Build thee a bivouac for the Deep that thou 
Might watch in vain for dream-land's shore, 
Whereas the enemy's the fearful wave 
That will devour thee and thy caravels? 
Doth not the prospect of the yawning gulf. 
So spaded by the winds; the piled-up crest 
Of waters, shovelled by some airy palm 
As broad as bending skies, urgent as iron. 
Dissuade thee from thy useless quest? Doth not 
Sepulture in the grim and ravenous seas 
Dissolve the siren power of thy dream? 

Col. The sea is sovereign o'er its own, good King; 



34 COLUMBUS 

I am not liege to it nor do I fear 

Its wind dug pits that ope and close to feed 

The hungry fathoms 'tween their ravenous jaws. 

I can not ground a truncheon in the Deep 

To punt my caravels across the main ; 

I sail by faith in God, and astrolabes 

Which look upon the stars; yea, also in 

My compass steel that bends its searching eye 

In kindly constancy upon the North. 

IsAB. Fancy's staccato steps lead thee away 
To lure thee to the ocean's dreaded flume, 
And if, thru it, thou dost attempt to sail, 
Thou'l chute the waves unto the underworld. 

Ferd. Imagination's repertoire's unstocked 
By this man's words, more strange than any yet. 

Col. Ye Sovereigns of this proud and glorious Spam 
Queen of Cordova's fruitful vale ! Thou King 
Of rocky uplands clad with pendent vines; 
Ye heirs of chivalry, extend its plume 
Across the seas ; add land to land and yield 
Me honors asked for recompense and risk! 

Ferd. Give o'er! The chivalry of Spain leaps not 
Upon thy beck to bale ! When crescents wane 
And wars are done, — perhaps, — but not till then 
Lend we again our probity and grace 
Or pinnacle thy vision in our Court. 
Meanwhile be in our service, and, — as well, — 
Condense thy swelling dream that, like a blast. 
Wide spreading thru the Heavens, needs contraction. 
And the eventual remnants may lead to gain 



COLUMBUS 35 

Whereby our realms, conjoined, may bolt the van 

Of nations ; leap to opulence and power 

Greater than heretofore. Talevera, 

We leave this man with you ; examine him. 

Assemble clerics and cosmographers 

That Holy Writ and Science may sift the chaff 

And find what kernels there may be. 

(Ferd. and Isab._, courtiers, ladies, Gkdnzalez and most 
of the attendants retire. Talevera gives orders to 
one of them to call the councilors. He retires to 
do so.) 
Tal. {to Col.) Good man, remain here at the 
King's behest 

While councilors will clear thy dream of fog 

And scan its truer sky-line. Hast thou maps? 
CoL. Yes ; one of Toscanelli's, whereon seas 

And isles are marked between the threaded lines 

That, in imaginary file pace o'er 

Our globe. 

{He unrolls a map; holds it ready for explanation. 
Enter Diego de Deza^ Alonso de Cardenas; an 
astronomer, a cosmographer and two friars, who 
carry several volumes of the ''Church Fathers." 
They confer among themselves as they come in. 
An instant after they enter. Cardinal Mendoza 
re-enters. They take their places about a table, and 
in arranging themselves in their seats, cast furtive 
glances at Colon,, zvho now is left standing alone. 
Talevera is seated next to Mendoza.) 
Deza. {Seated near Col.) Explain your thought, 
then tell us of your maps. 



36 COLUMBUS 

Col. I plan to sail upon the western seas direct to 
India's shore. 

Mendoza. Across the main 

Whose yonder shore line is the seam betwixt 
Our continent and the skirting sea? 

CoL. O'er it 

To famed Cipango isle; to riches, lands, — 

Deza. Ah! that can never be! 

Mendz. Atlanta's isle 

Hath gone its way w^ith other ocean myths, 
Or sunk of yore beneath the ravenous waves. 

1ST Fr. As this bold mariner shall sink, dare he 
To cope with treacherous seas. 

Col. Such ominous speech 

Was clouded o'er the dreams of Portuguese 
Who sought to beard the seagod on the waves 
By doubling Cape Non's grim and rocky prow, — 
Where keels of caravels had never sailed. — 
But thru the torrid fervour of the sun 
By whose down flaming fire, as we believed, 
The south was walled forever from our ships, 
They sped to vindicate the humble sea 
Of ill report. 

Deza. {Pointing.) That map, explain it now. 

CoL. My friends, look on this map ; here's my plan 
From Palos harbour straight unto these isles 

{Points to them.) 
Around our globular earth; this 

2ND Fr. Our globular Earth? 

What heresy and foolishness is that? 



COLUMBUS 37 

Col. Ah, Sir; must I reargue all my proofs 
And file my evidences one by one 
From Plato, Pliny, Strabo, Seneca 
Thus on to Toscanelli? 

2ND Fr. Toscanelli? 

Hath not Job said of yore: — God hath described 
Upon the water's face a boundary? 
And Clement too, hath writ, "the ocean is 
Impassable." 

Col. {Letting the map fall.) Indeed? Then it is so. 

Deza. {Picking up the map.) Let him explain his 
map; 
Colon, explain. {Gives it to him.) 

CoL. Sev'n hundred leagues across this western sea 
Lies rich Cipango Isle; 'tis marked thereon; — 
Look there. {Holds up map and points.) 

Cardn. How dost thou know thou'l not be swept 
Within the sweeping waters fell descent? 

CoL. The orbic earth's too covetous of its seas 
To let them slide from off its rotund sides 
And thus expose and drain our eastern shores. 

AsTRON. Our mariners dare not sail into the South 
Beyond the circular pale the North Star casts 
To dye the sunless sea in silver by 
Its conic glow at night. 

CoL. Nay; thou art wrong. 

Pilots have dashed beyond the provender 
The North Star yields to nourish timid eyes. 

CosMOG. Have they returned to port? 

CoL. They have. 



38 COLUMBUS 

Deza. The map I 

Col. {Holding it up and pointing.) Where'er I be 
upon the curving seas, 
I'l have no fear; my astrolabe shall guide. 
Between our own coast and the eastern capes 
Of Asia's wealthy realm, doth lie one seventh 

Our globe 

Mendz. Then India's opposite us? 
Col. It is. 

1ST Fr. Ah, cite Lactantius to him now! 
2ND Fr. {Opens the volume, Vol. II; p. 122; chap. 
39.) "Of various philosophers and of the antip- 
odes." "About the antipodes, also, one can neither 
hear nor speak without laughter. It is asserted as 
something serious that we should believe that there 
are men who have their feet opposite to ours. The 
ravings of Anaxagoras, who said that snow was 
black, are more tolerable." 
1ST Fr. There, dost thou wish more? 
Col. Clement and Lactantius! 

They did not know what I know of this globe. 

Deza. Colon, that is true. Knowledge of lands and 
seas 
Has grown upon itself since those men wrote. 

Cardn. O Deza, what if there be men beneath 
How can Christ see them when he descends 
From Heaven again upon the Earth? 

Deza Ask not ; 

I cannot tell. O, it is very strange. 
2ND Fr. Colon, you said those curving seas. Hear 



COLUMBUS 39 

this: From the works of St. Augustine, Book 13, 
Chapter 32. "Of the particular works of God, we 
behold the waters gathered together thru the plains 
of the sea and the dry land formed so as to be 
visible and compact." 
You understand ? Plains of the sea ; the land 
So formed as to be seen entire; yet you 
In contradiction to authority 
Declare that it is round and if it's so 
St. Augustine doth make a false report? 
The Fathers gainsaid by a mariner! 

1ST Fr. The Scriptures challenged by a Genoese! 
Mendz. Hath not King David said, inspired by 
God, — 
That Heaven stretcheth out just as a skin. 
Over the Earth beneath ? Thus, were the world, 
As you have said, a sphere, the other side 
Having no Heaven above, would surely be 
Without a soul upon its face. There would 
Be but a dreary waste of waters there. 

Col. King David spoke in a poetic term 
The soul employs for all its needs, but I 
For other wants speak in another tongue. 
And both of us are right. 

1ST Fr. Both of you right? 

Telev. Hath not the Prophet John in> vision, said: 
"I saw four angels standing on the four corners of 
the Earth"? 
Are there four corners in a round Earth, Sir? 



40 COLUMBUS 

Col. O answer me in mine own language, do! 
Refute these maps, these charts, the evidences — 

Talev. Do you deny our Faith and Holy Church? 

Col. My Faith sustains me and I love the Church. 
With me shall go its power o'er the sea 
And Christ be better known ; and with me shall return 
The riches of new lands that will redeem 
The Holy Sepulchre. 

Card. Riches, Colon! 

Knowest thou Isaiah's words, when he hath cried: 
"The burden of the desert of the sea ?" 

Col. Isaiah hath also cried as I exclaim: 
"The burden in the valley of Vision." 

Deza. Colon, my son, give all thy maps and charts 
Unto those men ; they will examine them. 
{He joints to the cosmographer and astronomer. ColOiN 
passes them; they pore over them.) 

2ND Fr. Hast thou no evidences else than these 
Old theories of the pagan and profane? 

Col. As I have told the King, the sea's confessed 
A little of its treasure; flowers and strange woods, 
Some reeds and other hints the waves have gleaned 
To cast upon our shore, impatient as they are 
Of our too-timorous keels, which faintly woo 
The ocean's yearning heart. 

2ND Fr. These things are from 

The desert of the sea? 

CoL. They are. 

CosMOG. Such things 

Are flimsy proofs of lands beyond. 



COLUMBUS 41 

Talev. Colon, 

The Holy Writ, the Fathers, the Church and Science 
Can give no sanction to thy dreams at all. 

{To the cosmographer and astronomer.) 
Do you find any truth upon those charts? 

CosMOG. Indeed, we doubt them all exceedingly. 

Colon. Ye do not know ! Ah, none of you can know, 
Tho I would thresh my logic o'er and o'er! 
To me the Deep hath opened as a scroll 
And I have read its words with mind and heart. 

Deza. Colon, Colon, abate thy heated words. 
I sympathize with thee and with thy quest. 

Mendz. Deza! Folly infatuated with 
A baseless dream! 

Talev. May God forgive you both! 

Col. Why need He who hath led forgive me ought? 
The Spirit of God again hath moved upon 
The face of yon vast Deep and it hath said : 
Follow my pathway in the sea, the waves, 
Like rocking hills are crouched around to crush 
Thy yawing hulls ! 

2ND Fr. Thou dost pervert the Holy Writ ! 

Col. Scripture but flames, it does note bate my zeal. 

Talev. Thou dost distort words of Eternal Truth. 

Col. What myriads of miracles God works 
On that which we conceive awhile as truth ! 

1ST Fr. The truth was fixed before these mariners 
came 
With senseless and with most unscriptural thoughts. 

Col. My logic is annulled ; my vision gleams ! 



42 COLUMBUS 

Without command of artfulness or fraud, 
And with a mastered license, let me speak! 
My soul, be fetterless ! Thrice-fold thy power ! 

in a prophet's tongue, my pleas resound ! 
1ST Fr. What! art thou a prophet? 

2ND Fr. a prophet. Sir? 

Col. In vain you house your clamors in mine ears ! 
They scarce are denizens therein. God's power 
And law are tabernacled in my flesh. 
A galist in a gale could easier ride 
Mid-ocean blasts and furrow snowy surf, 
Than all your petulant whims survive the fray 
My furied and inspired soul could launch ! 
Subscribe to my endeavors, O my God, 
And Thy high-piled additions will overturn 
Upon our foes, like thunder ruddered by 
An earthly coadjutor to the ground. 

2ND Fr. Thou call'st on God despite the Church? 

Talev. Dost thou ? 

Col. I shall unite earth's ends; make them join 
hands ; 
My transit o'er the sea will tame your tongues 
For it is certain as in any star's. 

1 am in bondage to a mighty voice 

That rises with the rushing winds ; with seas 
Where Wildness is afoot and Tumult tilts! 
My prows shall lance the waves in tournament 
The chivalry of Spain doth forfeit here. — 
Adventure's realm shall not escheat to God, 
For I'm an heir to it, and on the backs 



COLUMBUS 43 

Of strong sea-chargers, I, a knight, pledged for 
Defense of Truth, shall ride, nor be unhorsed 
By Fear, Defeat or Storm! No playful joust 
Wiirt be; no mocking thrust with blunted swords; 
No tragic risk or caracoling whirl 
Into the sable depths ! What trophies rich. 
What guerdons that will gyve my heart to joy ! 
The Tomb recovered and the Turks driven forth; 
Land, riches, gold; an Admiral of the sea! 
Thou Giver and Protector, O my God, 
I hear thy voice and am within the vale." 

Deza. My brethren this man hath a fire that comes 
In some mysterious way we should respect. 

Card. God's truth is born of peace and not of fire. 

1ST Fr. He would consume the teaching of our 
Church. 

Talev. He doth not move me; there's no reason in 
him. 

Col. Ye stand on cross ways of this doubted truth 
And useless lore. Suspension may bear fruit 
If ye but listen further. 

Talev. There's no use. 

Col. No use, good sir? Indeed! Thy ignorance 
shall 
Sometimes make its obeisance to my quest. 
Ruffles of silk ; mere musk of chivalry ; 
Dusty festoons of hoarded lore and friars 
Who badger what they can not balk, these are 
But outposts in the scale of strife that I 
Shall pass, then bivouac beyond ! The keys 



44 COLUMBUS 

Of yon vast Ocean's gates are mine and 1 
Shall soon unbind its captive Wild from chains 
Of Darkness, Fear and Ignorance ! 

Deza. Thout shalt! 

Talev. Deza, thou playest the fool with him. 

2ND Fr. {To Colon.) Thou'rt mad. 

Card. Colon, thy flaming speech doth yield no light 
Withiwthy Reason's void. 

Col. O Sirs, my spir't 

Is now on wing; it is coterminous 
With that vast revelation God hath sent 
My soul ! My very buttresses of Being 
Now shake! O, in my soul's-core, — hark! — a voice, — 
Whose incarnation hath renaissance now! 
It speaks ! Do ye not hear ? It thrills my frame 
From ground-work to the dome of Being! O God 
I reproduce thy thunders as I can! 
My spirit treads its confine ; it may soar 
Thru yet a wider arc; be tamed alone 
By yonder sweet and soul assuaging sea ! 
My climbing will shall yet attain the stars ; 
M}^ sword be bathed in Heaven and recompense 
For controversy over Truth shall gild 
Our globe as the auroral star in May. 
The ocean sinks in hollows, — not my heart; 
The sea-gulch is more friendly than these flats 
And the green-waves ravine a better couch ! 
The sea-brine, companion of the coldest gale, 
Ah ! it will never sting my heart as ye ! 
Your onslaughts 'gainst my life, my truth, — they burn. 



COLUMBUS 45 

The rythm of the billow's blast's more sweet ; 
Their strength is not of rancour ; the soft waves 
That are bisected by our prows, embrace 
Their very cheeks until they pass and then, 
Coalescing in the rear with turbulent joy, 
White foam flowers spring from such re-marriage there. 
Farewell to Spanish Courts, Fl go elsewhere. 
(Colon, regarded by all with great suspense, moves 
slowly out in the silence. Deza picks up his maps 
and follows after him. They pass out together. 
Silence for a moment thereafter.) 

Talev. An idle dream, but a redoubtable 
And agile dreamer for a mariner. 
Give me his nimble parts for other works 
And then Canada would 

Mend, Their Majesties! 

(Enter Ferd. and Isab. with a couple of attendants.) 

Ferd. What ! is the man gone ? 

(They seat themselves on the throne.) 

Talev. Yes, your Majesty; just now, with Deza 
Who gives his sympathy to Colon's scheme. 

Isab. He favors it? O tell us quickly all 
The council hath determined. 

Ferd. Bishop, speak. 

Talev. We have concluded that his dream is vain ; 
That Scripture and some other witnessings 
Do not sustain it and our common sense 
On which we much relied, condemns it, too. 

Ferd. There is nothing in it then? 

Talev. Nothing. 



46 COLUMBUS 

IsAB. O sir 

Such a decisive terminous of bold 
And daring projects, grieves me much. 
What did he say in its support? 

Talev. Kind Queen, 

What he hath said hath been well-judged and then 
Refuted with as much of fairness as with ease. 
His previous reasons made to thee, he gave 
And being unable to impress their worth 
He brawled his invocations unto God. — 
Just think, — for aid and partnership with him. 
These royal airs are yet quite warm, for he 
Hath poured in them his nympholeptic fire 
With an ill-balanced frenzy that a poet 
Would scarce enkindle on his mistress' death. 
Wordy emotion robbed his saner self 
Of logical detractions we would make. 

IsAB. Cardenas, what is thy thought? 

Ferd. Yes; tell us. 

Card. He bosomed his wild project like a child, 
And would not be advised, nor let be altered 
By all our learning, his still mounting dream. 

ISAB. Mendoza, what have you to say? 

Mend. My Queen 

His ignorance is a fertile aid to zeal; 
His prophet like discourse is self-deceit, 
But still a kind of rich commodity 
That may yet help his spirit to some goal. 

IsAB. Ah me! {To the Friars.) You agree? 



COLUMBUS 47 

1ST Fr. We do, your Majesty. 

Ferd. 'Tis as I thought, but might be better, as 
I hoped for some small increment of wealth 
Thereby. 

IsAB. I hoped the man's dream might be true. 

Ferd. Well now; that business done, Talevera, 
What of this matter with the Moors? 

(All except the King, Queen, Talevera and attendants 
retire. ) 

Talev. Your Majesty, I would advise the Court 
To move toward Granda. 

Ferd. It shall be done, 

And if this mariner beseeches us 
Still more, he'l follow there. Let us arise 
And now prepare for our departure hence. 
{The King and Queen arise and move forth with Ta- 
levera. Enter in front of them Deza and Juan 
Perez. All stop.) 

Deza. Your Majesties, we come to sustain a plea. 

Ferd. State it. 

Deza. We do believe this mariner, 

And supplicate your royal aid for him. 

Ferd. I left that to my council ; Talevera 
Hath just pronounced its will. I can not hear 
Of mariners now. We make a move against 
The Moors — 

ISAB. Ah, you do believe him then ? 

Talev. Your Majesties, the wars call for your 
thought. 



48 COLUMBUS 

Why ponder on that dream? The mad man may 

Be but an emissary of the Moor 

To help the Cross to sea and thus assist 

The Crescent's waning but its sharpening horns 

To plough the deeper in our Spanish soil, 

And then harpoon its heart. 

IsAB. It can not be 

That plain and forward man, whom I have seen. 
Hath not deception's mask in eye or speech. 
I, therefore, shall still listen to his plea. 

Ferd. I shall not use my time in vain debate; 
Come Talevera, let us leave. 

{The King, Talevera and one attendant go out. The 
Queen returns to her throne.) 

Juan. Most gracious Queen, we thank thee'n Colon's 
name. 
I know the handsel of thy heart is his ; 
He hath no evil artifice at all. 
His hopes do lie in Heaven, his wonderous will 
Hath conquered us and can outfrown his fate. 
He seems, in truth, to have miraculous fire 
That burns the fiercer in distress. Since he 
First entered in our Convent I believed. 
A mariner and a physician with us there 
Have likewise been as steadfast in belief. 
It grew in me; and being startled at the sight 
Of the departure of a man so great 
And of such use to Spain, I hastened here, 
My Queen, in suppliance for his quest. 



COLUMBUS 49 

IsAB. {To Deza.) Art thou, 

Who hast attended Talevera's court, 
As firmly for this man, Colon? 

Deza. I am; 

And in that court my voice was lost amid 
The general disdain; the wages of 
His soul will yet be paid, here or elsewhere. 

Juan. I am a simple friar, as thou knowest, 
And Colon came a stranger unto me; 
Athirst, a'hungering for sympathy and bread. 
I took him in ; I loved his radiant soul 
And seek thy royal alms, O Queen, for him. 

Isab. ri aid him if I have the King's consent. 

Juan. O royal woman, do not more defer, 
For tardiness enflames his ill-used spir't 
And in the plague of it he's burned too long. 
A woman's heart is more conceptions to 
The spirit's seed and power; the Holy Ghost 
Hath sent its child to her; the heart of Queens 
More than of Kings, beats with allegiance to 
The sorrowed and the passionate souls that dream. 
A woman's heart saved Rome. In early times 
Women hath given to Christ almost the half 
Of Europe ; as Clotilda, Olga, — Ah ! 
There're many more. What other worlds or lands 
Thy sweet and generous potency may glean ! 

Isab. Yes, yes ; it may be true. I hope it may. 

Deza. My Queen, hadst thou but heard his words 
as I! 
The composition of his truth and fire; 



so COLUMBUS 

His giant-soul, out soaring formulas, 

Gave friars logic handicap and won. 

And if Pretension had a thousand hands 

They could not clap their tentacles on him. 

Badgered and lone; his maps flung down, but God 

Who made compact his soul's stability 

That it might stand uncracked; ah, He was there! 

Hadst thou seen this; — the man's dimensions grow 

Upon the spurs of conflict and astride assault; 

With such a brace of wings that none could clip. 

By which his raptured spirit scaled the Earth, 

And riding in the clouds, hurled Heaven's fire 

To devastate our Ignorance and our Fear; 

Thou wouldst have oped thy heart to him and cried: 

O Col'n, thou wast appointed to this task ! 

IsAB. Thou speakest strange and yet convincing 
things. 
Thy words, good men, secure him my assent. 

Juan. O Queen, this is a destined and most blest 
Result of God's love in your heart. 

IsAB. I will aid him alone, if such must be. 

Deza. O Queen, 

Now thou hast banished doubt, banish delay, 
And benisons shall snap the tether of 
The woe to which he's chained. Brave heart ! So brave 
He's now afoot for France's Court. Recall 
Him ere too late. Good Queen, heal amity ! 
His soul doth menace Spain ; relieve our land. 
And then he will dissolve the sea of dread 
And riches shall come forth thence unto us. 



COLUMBUS 51 

IsAB. I act without my King; I will — 

Juan. O Thou 

Most generous Queen! 

Deza. We love thee, Gracious Queen. 

IsAB. I now shall undertake this enterprise 
For my own Crown Castile, and furthermore 
I pledge my private jewels for the cost, {d) 
Recall him quickly and send messengers, 
To say the Queen will aid ; that she agrees 
To his own stipulations. Quickly now! 

Juan. I thank our Gk)d and thee for this. Thy love 
Could not proscribe his dream and still protract 
Th' impatience of his noble aims for truth. 

Deza. O Queen, all will be well; I thank thee too, 
And Colon will be grateful evermore; 
His heart on Earth, his soul in Heaven, the same; — 
O noble monarch, worthy of our Spain! 

ISAB. Enough ! Now haste ; dispatch a messenger 
And n go forth to tell the king of this. 

{She arises; steps forth.) 
Deza. Your Majesty, I shall. 
{They go out together. Enter an instant later the King, 
Talevera and an attendant.) 

Ferd. We'l move into the valley of Granada, 
And camp before the city; nevermore 
Retract our banner's challenge from the vale 
Reduce our ardor; draw our lances back 
Until our emblems watch above its towers. 
And we with Christ's peace in our souls, can sleep 



52 COLUMBUS 

Beneath the folds that signal our success 

Unto high Heaven, which guides and prompts our war. 

Talev. We'l cleave the cuirass of the Moor; then 
bend 
The silver crescent to the Cross's form 
xA.fter eight hundred years of shame! The Moors 
Must now be driven forth and Spain be freed, 
No more part-Christian, yet part Saracen. 

Ferd. Yes; 'tis our duty. We have work on hand 
And can not trouble with the sea. 

Talev. There are 

Some seventy-thousand men on march. 

Ferd. 'Tis well. 

{Enter Isabella.) 

Talev. {To the Queen.) Your Majesty. 

IsAB. I come to tell the King I've promised aid 
For Col'n's adventure and designs and hopes. 

Ferd. What? Oh Isabella, is your reason gone? 
Your tenderness prevailed upon for thir.? 

IsAB. My King, my reason and my heart are here 

Ferd. Good Queen, O why hath your opinion 
changed ? 
And that strange man's refracted aims so lodged 
Within your understanding that you bend 
Its wonted straightness for his dream? 

Talev. O my good Queen, the Moors come first. 

IsAB. I have 

Pledged him my jewels, my support, my love. 
Messengers are on their way for his recall. 

Ferd. Thy jewels for this crusade upon the sea, 
Condemned by councillors of Church and State? 



COLUMBUS 53 

Jewels for the ravenous waves; pearls for the maw 

Of the abyss ; thy silver and thy gold 

For the insatiate fathoms of the main ? 

Thy chrysophase for this strange mariner's hope? 

To cross the endless seas, whereas our wars 

Should so inspire a levy on thy wealth, 

That thou wouldst hurl them 'gainst the Moor? O 

Queen, 
Why this declension to a mariner's myth? 
Knowest thou that we are now preparing here 
For an attack upon the Moor's last camp, 
Granada? O rescind thy promise! 

IsAB. Stop ! 

I am the Queen of Castile ; my trusted word 
Is giv'n. I can not argue. I believe, 
ri aid him as I promised, for he has 
Conceptions of a truth unknown to thee. 

Talev. Good Queen, await until Granada falls; 
Until our realm is scoured of the Moor. 

yield this much. 

Ferd. Oh ! I can not understand you. 

IsAB. I shall yield that on promise of the King 
That he deter me not thereafter. 

Ferd. I promise it. 

IsAB. Then haste Granada's fall. 

My spirit is a wing on his sea-dream. 
And prays for his success upon the main. 

1 leave you to your councils ; fare you well. 

(Isabella goes out hastily.) 
Ferd. O stay! remain awhile. (She does not heed.) 



54 COLUMBUS 

Ah! well — we Kings 
Must rule, tho women dream. 

Talev. And mariners. 

Ferd. The Court will move to-morrow? 
Ferd. Yes if — eh, — 

Let us take further council with the Queen. 

(Ferd. moves to the door; Talevera follows.) 
Talev. As you will, your Majesty. 
(They go out together.) 

Scene 2. 
By a roadside bridge, two leagues from Granada. Colon 
is bidding adieu to Beatrice Enriquez^ in prepa- 
ration for his departure for Paris. 
Time: Just after the capture of Granada from the 
Moors. 
Col. Regard that Court, maddened for Moorish 
blood ; 
Its wars outsovereign my exalted hopes. 
E'en hooded clerics seek the warrior's camp; 
While crosiers tarnish all the lances gleam. 

Beat. Too well I know it, but what can you do? 
CoL. Fm going to France, to urge my quest before 
Her King; leave Spain wherein I have but served 
To scent the trail of royal bivouacs. 

Beat. Our Court, of late, has moved in many parts 
CoL. The jejune jubilee over Granada's fall 
Was general as the air, indifference girt me round; 
Contempt and laughter, so I leave. No more 



COLUMBUS 55 

Beg I of Spanish sovereigns now ; 
My spirit shall never condescend to them. 
I am embayed within this orient shore, 
But only man doth keep me from the trail 
Of yon descending smi, not God. 

Beat. 'Tis true. 

Col. My spirit's ambience, pressing as the tide 
Into each inlet of a crannied coast, 
Shall find its entre to success and then 
'Twill purge the western sea of solitude. 

Beat. O soul of iron and amber, votary 
Of truth amidst the callid and defiled. 
What tho these princes capriole, press on! 
The babel-tower of all their whinnying tongues 
Careens in sand and sludge ; thine upright soul 
Is like a battle galley in its pose ! 
Compassed unto its water line within 
The wild and challenged seas, it hath not yet 
Been slanted on the tideless shoals 
Of fear or of defeat. The winds of Fate 
Are not yet stagnant, O press on ! press on ! 

Col. Dear heart, I love thee for thy spir't and words. 
I've been a peripatetic puppet here. 
Wriggling among the coils of courts, but now, — 
O God, strengthen my will, — I will press on, 
And rid myself of muddied minds, lax spirits; 
All those exotic to my quest, and the 
Confined and static calibre of soul 
Who have with satire, jests and unmasked scorn 
Thus measured, pecked my heart, my birth, my name ! 



56 COLUMBUS 

But the more maddened pulses of my dream 
Urging their power against these sheathing yokes, 
Do therefore chase more frantic thru my soul. 

Beat. They will beat down the portals of this hate 
And burst the pillars that sustain thy woe. 

my beloved, press thou on, press on ! 

Col. Thou urgent soul, I will, I will, I will! 

1 wished to see thee ere I left and now 

I have well seen and better heard. God, Thou, 
And I, few else agree, but that is well. 
And will be better soon. 

Beat. O Thy great strength 

Colon, doth magnetize my soul with thine. 
Thou hast my love, my prayers. No scurrile gibe 
Or shouted scoff can desolate thy fane. 
Cathedral-soul, pillared with living fire, 
Whose heavy heart my own would levitate. 

Col. Thy woman's heart in my vicissitudes 
Hath been most sweet to think of; so't will be 
In days to come. Farewell ! I am upon 
My destined way, — this land-road, then the sea. 
God casts my shadow o'er the ocean's dial, 
And tho my time hath not yet come, 'tis near, 
For my penumbra thickens on the wave, 
Despite the fogs, and, like the striding sun, 
Sets seaward now ; it over-rides the rocks ; 
Plunges thru billows that would halt its limbs ; 
Inspired by God and by our age, — by thee, — 
It touches Heaven and Earth and spans the sea ! 

Beat. Thy soul is quickened with a fire divine — 



COLUMBUS 57 

O let it glow ! Thou'l need it ; quench it not. 
These cadent woes are born in Heaven; by them 
A wider scope is tendered to thy will, 
Premonitory of thy rule upon 
The sea's more tameless and more rude estate, 
Whose burning salt-blasts will assay the ore 
Of faith. 

Col. Who overcometh, findeth life. 
Farewell again ; I'm poor ; — I trudge to France 
Over these roads of earthly woe. 

Beat. Farewell ! 

Thy God will blast away their rocks ! May He 
Be ever at thy side. 

Col. Good soul, adieu! 

{Takes her hand.) 
Beat. Bravest of hearts, farewell! 
(Col. begins his departure very slowly as if hesitating. 
Beatrice, seated upon the bridge wall, watches him 
pass out. A moment thereafter a courier enters on 
horseback; he leaps down and speaks to her.) 
CouR. Good woman, have you seen a mariner pass 

this way? 
Beat. A mariner? Colon? 
CouR. Yes ; 'tis he I wish. 

Beat. You wish him? Why? 
CouR. I am sent by the Queen 

To bid him to return to Court — 

Beat. O Joy ! 

But Sir, why bid him thus ? 



58 COLUMBUS 

CouR. For she has pledged 

Her jewels for his quest; has promised that 
She will prepare two caravels and men 
To test his enterprise across the seas. 

Beat. O Heaven be praised! He is my friend. O 
haste ! 
He has just gone; run; (pointing) see, — ^he turns the 

road! 
O hasten quickly; tell him this good news. 

(The courier mounts and gallops in the direction Col. 

took.) 

Beat. O how his soul will shout its jubilee, 
And Heaven and Earth resound in unison! 
O Thou most gracious Queen ! O glorious God, 
Thine eye hath kept its vigil on his quest 
And flamed the embers of his faith which had 
Been ashes else, and long ago interred 
Within Despair's dull tomb, all lichened o'er; 
Hedged in by coarse weeds of the sneering world, 
And bound by bind- weeds to Oblivion! 
But now, — O joy, — such urn will not be oped. 
Thou blessed Queen ; — , but hush, — they come ! 

(Enter Col. and the courier, both afoot; the courier 
leads the horse.) 

O Colon, 
What splendid news! What — dost not believe? 

Col. (Shommg no great joy.) I am recalled, but 
what it that? The Court 
Has called me back before ; too oft, indeed, 



COLUMBUS 59 

To give my cheated spirit respite now 
From doubt; yes, ev'n in this apparent hope. 

CouR. Believe me Sir; my word is from the Queen. 

Beat. O Col'n, leave lethargy to duller souls 
And let thy will now lend its power to Hope 
In this — thy best recall. 

Col. Well, — I shall go, 

But I will not reduce my just demands. 

Beat. That is not asked. 

CouR. Good Sir, have you forgot 
That those good friars, Deza, Juan Perez, have 
So interceded for you with the Queen 
She is enthused as they; she's promised wealth, 
Ships, men. Her spirit, on self-reliant power 
Hath risen with their words and hopes, and she 
Is boldened to assume alone the risk 
Involved within thy quest. 

Beat. O Col'n, believe. 

CouR. Good Sir, she will not falter now. 

Col. If this 

Be so, I shall return with lighter heart, 
And then I'l put a bridle on the winds, 
And, saddling caravels upon the back 
Of yonder sea, I'l ride the galloping surge 
To other lands ! I'l rein the cantering gales 
To do the will of Heaven and e'en the dregs 
Of it, will find their office and completion then. 
Come, let us go. (Falteringly.) O dost thou mean it, 
•Good Oueen? 



6o COLUMBUS 

Beat. I'l go part way with thee, and send my heart 
Unto thy journey's end. 

CouR. ri mount my horse 

And thus with hastier steps Fl reach the town 
And tell the good Queen of thy coming back. 

Col. Come then, Beatrice. {They pass out towards 
Granada. The courier nwunts and follows.) 



ACT III. 



Scene i. 

At sea late afternoon and evening of October ii, 1492; 
on the caravel ''Santa Maria.'' Seven sailors and 
Admiral Colon are on deck. The wind blows hard. 

1ST Sl. These powerful blasts about our sails, halloo 
Their screaming challenge to our caravels. 

2ND Sl. We are tobogganing the fearful slope 
Of this wide sea and never shall we sail 
Uphill to Spain again. 

1ST Sl. Ah me ! 

CoL. {Who, tho not looking at the speakers has heard 
them, turns to them.) O men, 
We are the comrades of the waves and must 
Reside with them awhile ; our lives are sport. 
Diverting gambols with the tempting sea. 
Be not afraid! And with self-given best 
Harden your spongy grit and wash your spirits 



COLUMBUS 6i 

With the encircling brine; thus stiffen them 

To brace your nerveless hearts and prop your chins. 

The winds blow harder; furl the topsail there! 

{Several sailors do as hid. Col. resumes his gaze west- 
ward. ) 

3RD Sl. Upon the sunken Atalantis' Isle 
Our tender growing hulls may yet be driven, 
And so be moored upon the unseen flats 
And tangled in the thick and sedgy sea. 
Ah, they shall rot there, then — we'l perish all ! ' 

CoL. Survival of old Plato's myth; be strong. 

{Paces the deck.) 

4TH Sl. O fie on my consent! Sweet Maria 
Whom I have left on shore, you caught my kiss ; 
Would I could hurl myself so to thine arms ! 

5TH Sl. O give me yon sweet Andalusia's 
Vineyards and flowery fields and yellow bees ! 
The ocean's ominous roar outdrones their song. 

CoL. {Coming toward them.) We are consigned by 
God unto the sea, 
And being Adventure's conscripts too, we must 
Combat infectious fear or in contempt 
Of all the greater powers of life we'l be. 
Dissolve your dread ! How gallantly we cut 
The fluid waves ! They fly in pallor from 
Our plunging prow, that, scattering their hosts, 
Cleaves then their following arms in twain and leaps 
Their watery phalanxes unto the sun! 



62 COLUMBUS 

1ST Sl. {Returning ztnth others from duty.) Let us 
return upon the swelling tide 
Unto the east; we fear the landless west. 

Col. O let your courage mock the gloomy sea 
That bends its watery vistas on your eyes, 
And bid your trust look ever on its face. 
The pendulous winds, that swing from Heaven's dome, 
Rocking now east, now west, shall waft our ships 
Both back and forth with them, so have no fear. 

2ND Sl. These are the promised seas, alas, nowhere 
Do we yet see the promised land! 

1ST Sl. Nowhere! 

Col. O keep your faith my men. Never before 
Hath a ship's shadow flecked the sun's sea path, 
And tho the waters think it strange, they will 
Yet bear us onward to our goal. 

(Goes to the railing; peers seaward.) 

2ND Sl. All these 

vSwift changes of the widening sea bode ill. 
Thrice have the clouds feigned land; the mirage flees 
Like hope; the sea-birds shriek and fly away 
And sly-winds slue our little caravels 
Into the sea's abyss. 

1ST. Sl. Let us return. 

CoL. (Turns to the men on hearing the last sailor.) 
Yet once again, O men, I speak my faith. 
We're circled with the sea about our ships. 
And with God's love and law about our lives. 
Your imprecations can not alter Him. 



COLUMBUS 63 

These serried waves that westward move, show us 
The destiny of Hope and chronicle 
Upon our eyes Adventure's path. 

{Catching sight of some birds.) 

Those field-birds trailing west south-west. Pilot 
We'l follow them; turn thither the ship's prow. 

(Colon retires into the cabin.) 

4TH Sl. Adventure is abused with fruitless work 
And suffrance for a folly needs redress. 
O let us turn about our prows and seek 
The land wherefrom we came; there is none else. 

5TH Sl. This shuffling in the sea, west by south-west ; 
Then west by north-west or due west, is not 
True enterprise and only hacks our spir'ts 
Without repair, reward or cheer. Let us 
Demand of him due east again to Spain. 

1ST Sl. I shouted that within his very ears. 
What useless, drear, dismemberment we make 
Of these earth-shunning waves, — the barren food 
Of one man's hope. 

5TH Sl. He alone can stomach them. 

4TH Sl. Let us command the caravel if he 
Persists and then direct its bobbing steps 
Unto the east. 

5TH Sl. If he falls o'er the side 

To-night within his watch — 

1ST Sl. The ship is ours! 

Ah! why should an Italian, with such speech. 
So soften'd in pious tones for crazy hopes, 



64 COLUMBUS 

Rule over us, who're Spaniards born, and we, 
For sake of his illusions of the sea. 
That soon will fade as phantom isles have done, 
Be made but galley-slaves and partners in 
This useless and malicious quest? Seek him. 
And say we break our bonds ; we sail no more 
But to the East. 

4TH Sl. Ah, nine long weeks at sea 

And yet no land ! 

1ST Sl. ri not touch another rope 

Until that rudder's reversed. 

2ND Sl. Nor I; 

And my sun-trailing's done ; the orb's as small 
As 'twas at Palos; we are no nearer it 
Than we are to land. 

3RD Sl. Same here; those splashing wavei^ 

Beat on my brain, annulling the natural throbs 
My heart would make. 

1ST Sl. Courage! We'l man this deck, 

And hunt no more for phantoms in the sea. 

4TH Sl. No more, by God! 

5TH Sl. My dagger tells me yea. 

2ND Sl. You would not kill the Admiral? 

4TH Sl. Coward! 

Shall we deliver all unto the grave 
For one man's senseless whim? Speak, tell me that. 

2ND Sl. Jesu Maria! I don't know. 

4TH Sl. Then hush. 

Lie low ; wait till he comes upon the deck. 
Then we'l present our several demands 



COLUMBUS 65 

And answers shall be made to suit our wills 
Or else — 

5TH Sl. Stop ; he comes again. 

(Col. comes on deck; calls out quickly to the pilot.) 

Col. Pilot! west south-west. 

4TH Sl. Try east, Sir, east. 

Col. (Drazus himself up angrily.) What! you order 
the pilot? 
What does this mean? 

5TH Sl. {Approaching.) Order him east, Sir, east. 
We shall sail west no more. 

Col. {Moving his hand to his sword.) You know 
not what 
You say; you shall be put in irons; now go 
Below, {^th sailor does as bid.) 

4TH Sl. Nay, Sir ; we shall stay here until 
Our prow is turned unto the east. 

3RD Sl. {Approaching.) There is no land within 
the sea! 

1ST Sl. East, eastl 

We touch no sail or rope that helps us west. 
We have avowed it so. 

CoL. Hold! Speak not that to me. 

We shall not turn our pointed prows until 
I give commands thereto. 

{The sailors approach him closer; clamoring: turn back! 
We' I go no further! Would you have us die? 
East! East!) 
CoL. {Drawing his sword; the men fall back a little.) 



66 COLUMBUS 

O men, hold back; cease mutiny and purge 
Your timid breasts, enfeoffed with feebleness! 
Suppress the throbs that are indicative 
Of such a low estate, — the breeding-ground 
Of your congested fears and mutinies! 

4TH Sl. We've had too much of words and of the sea, 
And now demand return to Spain. Where are 
The promised lands, the mounts of gold, and pearls 
Clustered together as the silver sands? 

{Others recede; 4th sailor starts forward more boldly.) 

4TH Sl. To Spain ! 

1ST Sl. Yes; back to Spain! 

Col. Again I say, have peace ! 

Peace, peace, my men; believe ye in my words. 
We have not tracked the lonely sea, nor watched 
In vain the fiery monitor of life, 
Whose light shall yet show us the lands we seek. 
Unthrottle my worn soul of these new threats ! 
Ye have been more contentious than the waves 
That knock our wooden hulls; worse than the winds 
That gently flap our sails. O ! far more hard 
Your mutiny doth strike my heart. Be strung! 
Oh! drive this rank rebellion from your breasts 
And you shall then be weaponed for the sea 
And cudgel from its keep its richest prize. 

4TH Sl. Sea weed! 

3RD Sl. Salt water! (Mutterings among the 

others. ) 

Col. Oh, men, expel these fears; the sea awaits 



COLUMBUS 67 

Pursuit; 'tis safe; leave rillets for the weak! 
Ah, seek the hollows of the bended waves 
Whilst the magnetic waters tighten us 
In their embrace ! O God, give us the blood 
That makes its deed the counterpart of trust; 
The spir't, that molded in unfailing clasp, 
Allows no mutual dalliance twixt it. 
And hazards in the husbandry of seas ! 
You are now but apprenticed for the Deep, 
But follow me and you shall masters be! 
(All but the 4th sailor have fallen back still further.) 
4TH Sl. (Turning about, discovering their spirits 
cowed.) Yes westward to our graves! (Goes to 
the other sailors.) 
Col. West to our goal; 

Unto Cipango's isle and all its gold ! 

3RD Sl. Ah ! we have thrown our dice with Death 
and lost. 
(Low murmurings among the rest. The sun sets over 
the sea; and darkness grows.) 
Col. 'Tis growing dark, so let your mutinous plot 
Fade with this day forever. It is now 
The vesper hour, — the sweetest hour at sea; 
So, let your hearts exult in peace and song; 
Forget rebellious strife and chant our hymn, 
Salve Regina, with accustomed love. 

(Bell rings the hour.) 
(Juan de la Cosa, boatswain and steward appear on 
deck during the chimes. All doff their hats; bow 
their heads and join with Colon, who leads.) 



68 COLUMBUS 

Hail, Heavenly Queen, Mother of Pity, Hail! 

We exiled children of Eve cry unto Thee, — our Life, 

Our Joy and Hope. 
Weeping and groaning in this valley of tears, we aspire 

to thee. 
Thou glorious Advocate, turn thy pitying eyes upon us! 
And after our exile, O sweet and pious, O merciful maid. 
Show us Jesus, thy blessed son. 

(^Silence a moment. The wind decreases to a breeze.^ 

Col. Now men, still keep your faith, for in the night 
Our God is nigh to us; the firmament 
Accented with his power, arrayed with stars 
Doth show His love; as valleys round the hills 
So circle His great arms around our lives. 
His vesper music is the cadent of wave 
That sings above the eve's sweet silentness. 
O now suppress your sorrows and your woes 
And from your windy temper's cavern, fling 
The litters of your Fear, that plot and roar 
And make these peaceful hours an ominous eve, 
Sullied with stigma of a broken faith. 
Now go below; Tl watch awhile for land 
The signs whereof float all around. 

(Col. points to the door; sailors go first. The boatswain 
goes to look after the sails and rigging. It grozvs 
darker. Lights are made in the boat.) 

CoL. (To Juan.) As I suspected, they now begin 
to mutiny. 



COLUMBUS 69 

CosA. I'l go and talk with them. {He goes below.) 

(Col. paces the deck a moment in silence; the skip is 
quiet; pitches a little. He peers westward, then 
speaks.) 

Col. How full of peace this evening is, for it 
Doth not know of our mutinies. Ah, see 
The damask sky fades into grey; O God, 
How many sun-downs must I watch? And must 
The flushing, too, of my faith pale and pass? 
We glide forever in the ocean's hub; 
The sky-line, — that keen edge that threatens now 
To cleave my hope, — it doth not yet grow dull; 
It thickens not with any coveted coast. 
The sea-rim doth not narrow any day; 
The felly of suspense contracts the more 
And makes my westward gaze intenser far; 
My ear more keen for clamorous mutiny ; 
My heart perhaps contagious unto dread; 
My soul more suppliant before my God 
That this adventure may not now be fouled 
\A^ith failure or the sin of Cain, 

(Enter Cosa. Boatswain reappears and goes below.) 

CosA. Admiral, 

Entreat those sailors without so much blame. 
And with much less of menace, Sir; they said 
You smote one of their comrades with your sword 
And made dire threats against their very lives 
For asking but a simple thing. 



70 COLUMBUS 

Col. Knaves and liars I 

I made no threat, nor used my sword on any, 
But merely drew it from its sheath and waved it thus. 

(Waves it.) 
Ah, villains, let them spend their fears in lies 
To purchase vindication from my scolding words! 
The recourse to such bargains buys the chain. 
Who made that charge? Send him to me at once. 

CosA. Nay, nay, it will not be best to do that, 
Nor menace them in any way; they were 
Much too excited to relate the truth. 

Col. And do I menace them? Ah, am I not 
Myself e'en menaced by a double power — 
This wizard sea-wold and commanding God, — 
Who keeps a vigil on its dread domain 
And with his truncheon wind propels my ships, 
Stinging my spirit with Adventure's lash? 
Had He but goaded them and whipped their lean 
And flacgid spirits to such deeds, as He 
Hath spurred my soul with hope without surcease 
To grow thus scorned, weary and old in but 
The prologue of my quest. Ah, then they could 
Whimper and rant about their fates and fears! 
Ah, bah ! let me alone ; I'l deal with them, 
And if my first and gentler stimulus 
Be not enough, — but hark! — what noises now? 
(Loud and dissentient voices heard; they grozir louder; 
sailors appear by the hatchway and shout to Col. 
a7td CosA.) 

1ST Sl. Cap'n, will he do it? 



COLUMBUS 71 

2ND Sl. What says he, East? 

CosA. Go back men, back! 

3RD Sl. Yes, back east, back east! 

Col. {Approaches them with drawn szvord, they re- 
cede slowly.) Villains and knaves, depart and hold 
your peace, 
Or now ri cleave your mutinous tide in twain, 
Just as our prows there plough the thwarting sea, 
And links and irons shall then bind your limbs. 

CosA. O men, is this your promise kept ? Have peace ! 

Col. {Approaching nearer them.) Men, cease these 
mutinous riots; keep your faith; 
Believe my words, — the sea's in league with us, 
Adventure's spirit is not orphaned yet. 
Remember that we must be near to land. 
Of it, so many signs the waters hold, 
We may discover it to-morrow morn. 
Depart in peace. {With mutterings and spirits cowed, 
they slink below.) 

CoSA. They are a scrubby lot! 

Col. Well, — is your faith's own ripeness wizened too. 
That you were conjuring appeal for them 
Altho it was not given? 

CosA. No, Admiral, no; 

I had a mere suggestion that we sail 
A little more southwest. 

CoL. We have done that 

For several hours now. I'l watch for its results: 
So leave me; let me be alone. 

CosA. Aye, aye, Sir. {Goes below.) 



72 COLUMBUS 

Col. {After pacing the deck a moment.) O God! 
why should one man have all the faith? 
The same world hails their eyes as mine ; same stars, 
Same sun, same sea, and my perceptions are 
Perceived by each. Ah ! it was always so ! 
The world doth ever shift to shun exchange 
Of virtues planted in our several hearts, 
And what one has, another lacks, and thus 
Rebellious discord doth begin as here. 

(Looks over the sea; listens a moment; nothing is heard 
hut the sound of waves.) 

Thou endless waters ! lap, lap, lap, these hulls ! 

O ! would I heard your beating on some shore 

Or that your tongues a moment now were mute, 

That I might snare a land-sound in mine ear! 

Ye endless ocean-plains, O be transformed 

To earthly hills ; change to solidity ! 

O tire with thy continuous being and flee ! 

O God, remove the main! Cry o'er the Deep: 

"Let the dry land appear." — Ye ceaseless waves, 

Have ye no bourne? Then my faith finds its end. 

Thou wide, wide sea! I did not think thee so. 

O grant, out of thy fertile amplitude 

The parturition of the land, the land ! 



(CosA enters suddenly; the boatswain and two sailor, 
are behind him. They go to spread the topsail) 

CosA. Land? land? O v/here? what land? 
CoL. Nay, Juan, only in my heart's desire 



COLUMBUS 73 

Which breaks into imploring speech, woo'd by 
The silent night unto its ear. 

CosA. Alas ! 

Is there no more of land than that? 

Col. Not yet. 

CosA. The men are quiet and reposed; I stilled 
Their troubled minds, but how long they'l remain 
In such a state, I can not say. 

Col. That much is well ; 

Stay by them all you can. 

(CosA goes below; a moment later the boatswain and 
the two sailors do likewise.) 

Col. ( When all is quiet; gazing zvestward at the edge 
of the caravel upon the sea and sky.) The silver 
eyes of yonder firmament 
Have never been so mirrored in the sea ! 
The zodiac that girds its very girth 
Hath loosed its ambient belt of stars to bind 
Earth's waters in the blessed peace of Heaven! 
Ye flaxen fringes, pendent from the sky, 

ye have been much more to me than stars ! 
Guides of my ship and tutors of my soul ! 
Thy lineage is mine. Celestial orb! 

Thou silver pledge of God's triumphant love 

1 celebrate epiphanies to thee. — 

Ah! see; a wave so softly gurghng, swol'n, 
Is upward borne against the ship. Oh God, 
The shining orbs of Heaven kiss mine eyes ; 
They light my soul ; they give my faith their fire ; 



74 COLUMBUS 

They charge my hope with power to front the sea, 
And fill my heart with love, my spirit with Thee! 
(Col. hows his head; paces the deck silently in that 
manner a moment; raises his eyes and sees a Ugh* 
oif on the port side.) 
A light, a light! Ho, Cosa, land! 'tis land! 
{Rushes to the side of the ship.) 
O God, it must be so ! See how it moves ! 

{The light disappears.) 
x\las ! 'tis gone, — 'tis gone ! The ravenous sea 
That eateth even fire, hath swallowed it. 
God! — gild this blackness with another flash! 
Night! — raise thy black lids from that fiery eye! 
Departed light,— whate'er thou wast,— thou fallen star; 
Thou demon; O! thou anything, return! 
Flame o'er the wave again! {The light re-appears.) 

Ah ! there it shines ! 
(Cosa rushes on deck toward him.) 
Cosa. What's that you say? 

CoL. Look there ;— that light, that light ! 

It must mean land ; go quickly ; call the men ! 
Take soundings ; slacken sail ! Pilot, pilot, 
O quickly, veer to port! 
Cosa. Praise God, 'tis land ! 

(Cosa runs below to give orders and call the men.) 
Col. Praise God! 'Tis land! 'tis land, 'tis land, 'tis 
land! 
O thou blest balefire of Adventure's end 



COLUMBUS 75 

And Faith's success! Thou holy flame; thou flash 
From God to show us truth and smite our fears! 
Thou star from Heaven, transfigured in Earthly fire, 
Widen thy flaming crevice in the dark 
That we may see the land ! Descended Prophet 
Of solid earth, extend thy fiery wings ! 
Mine eyes can not deceive; the light's still there; 
It moves again; it trembles, sends its flame 
Aloft to Heaven wherefrom it fell, and where 
My own thanksgiving goes unto my God ! 
{During the last two lines, all the crew crowd upon the 
deck; all are excited; they peer at the light thru the 
darkness. Murmurs and gesticulations among them, 
one drops a plummet for soundings; others prepare 
to furl the sails.) 
CosA. Look, that light. 
1ST Sl. a light! The land! 

2ND Sl. O ! the land. 

3RD Sl. O God ! we're safe ; 'tis land. 
4TH Sl. We're saved, 'tis land! 

CosA. (To the boatswain.) Go; fire the cannon, as 

a voice of joy! 
(He goes to do it. The light of day dawns a little.) 
Col. Blest gleam ! Thy light's infectious ; day springs 
from Thee! 
The blessed morn, our hearts, our joys, our praise 
Are all awakened by this flash from Heaven ! 
See ! In the dawning light the solid ground 
Yet dimly loom above the ended seas, 
That have been partners in our search! Ah now. 



76 COLUMBUS 

Where are their gibes, lampoons and sneers, their scoffs. 
Their ^'nameless stranger," "Genoese," "'Upstart"? 
Their vaunted lore; their judgments, finger points 
Upon their brows in scorn of mine? Ah, what 
Is man that I should mindful be of him? 
I have dissolved the mystery of the sea; 
Spanned waves, whose very fringe for ages past 
Hath made men tremble to behold their power; 
Frighted the boldest billows; coralled all fears 
And chained them by my will ; focussed, indeed, 
The very elements, so that their herded powers 
Drove on our ships the faster to this land! 
It doth not purge my soul of fear ; it is 
The apex of my faith, whereto I clomb, 
And ministers alone to faithless hearts. 

{Cannon sounds.) 

hear the booming echo of our joy! 
May its reverberation reach to Heaven! 

1ST Sl. {Kneeling before Col.). O Admiral, forgive 
my faithless words! 

1 have maligned thee and the sea for naught, 
Aud cursed Adventure thru whose opulent gate 
This land and all its riches come. 

2ND Sl. {Kneeling.) Forgive me, also. Admiral. 
3RD Sl. {Kneeling.) My fears and conspiracy for- 
give! 
Col. Up ! up ! And let your faith rise with the sun 
That gilds the happiest morning of oui lives. 

{Morning dawns brightly.) 



COLUMBUS 77 

4TH. Sl. Ah, see that green and flowery land! 

We're saved ! 
O Admiral, we thank and follow thee! 

CosA. O men, there is the land, and there is he 
Who brought us here; whom you whilom for fear 
Have bayed like curs; cursed with your ominous 

tongues. 
And would have quartered and thrown to the waves, 
Abandoning this prize. Now you rejoice 
With hearts at double pace, whereat keep love 
And fill the gaps within your souls with faith 
That we have learned from him. Yield gratitude 
And homage in return and when we touch 
That welcome shore, obedience to him 
Whose spir't hath furrowed the virgin sea for us 
And cleaved the' dreaded main in trench so deep 
An empire's hosts shall sail in safety thru. 
{All except the main-sail being furled, the caravel glides 
along slowly.) 

4TH Sl. Aye, aye, we will ! 

5TH Sl. O noble Admiral! 

1ST Sl. Aye, Sir; we shall not doubt or fear again. 

Col. I thank you men ; now sustain your trust. 

CosA. O Admiral, thou hast their full-fledged confi- 
dence ; 
These proofs of strength and faith in thee have won it. 
Thou guide, chosen by God thou art, for who 
Is there 'mongst us can say he lives by faith 
Till each rebuflf; the risk of death, storms, wrecks, 
The unhulled seas, the long night-watches and 



78 COLUMBUS 

Thousand tongued mutiny have tugged at it 
To prove its tensile strength? O mighty faith, 
Strong as well carboned steel ! Thou true Dreadnaught, 
Adventure is the seneschal of thee ! 

Col. Enough, enough, for see, the ample morn 
Arrays the land in sheen and festive beams. 
Let us give thanks to God for these, his works. 
Then we shall launch our skiffs to reach the shore. 

CosA. Look ! look ! Those natives prance among the 
trees ! 

(All look at them.) 

Col. Yes; see them. Ah, these fertile lands are 
blessed 
With beings like ourselves. Men, gather here. 
Uncover whilst our joyous hearts launch forth 
To God, our growing, but too cabined praise. 

(All do as he bids; facing the west.) 
Col. O God, who hath made the Deep of the Sea 
A way for thy ransomed to pass over. 
These words in praise; thanksgiving for the faith 
That made and kept us; for the mystic sea 
We courted; for the dangers that we risked; 
For Death, with whom we gambolled, knowing Thou 
Art e'er our Guide and Law: for these, our praise. 
For all the serried and the choppy waves; 
The cavernous waters, conflicts and mutinies; 
Strong winds betimes that made our fragile ship 
Slue in the sea ; for this sweet land as well ; 
For labors; watching, waiting, trouble, — all; — 



COLUMBUS 79 

For triumphs now, we praise Thee from our hearts ! 
We thank Thee this is not a pageant world, 
And that Thy law is never prostrate here; — 
Thy cogent hands do nothing .slovenly. 
Oh, for all things we praise Thee and henceforth 
We gainsay nought. Thou hast in safety led 
Us to our goal. 

{A momentary silence.) 

{Energetically.) Now: men, furl the main-sail. 
Drop anchors; man the skiJffs and we shall tread 
The land with marvelous joy. 

(Shouts: ''Aye, aye, Sir," among the sailors.) 



Scene 2. 

On the Island of San Salvador. 

The Admiral and the crews approach the shore in the 
early morning. All is calm without; the sun shines, 
the dew sparkles; natives are seen hiding among 
the trees in the background, fearing to approach 
''these strange white men, come from Heaven.'' 

Colon, with a crimson robe thrown over his armor, 
holding in his hand the royal standard, stepped on 
the land first. The ship-captains and the crew fol- 
lowed, some carrying a banner of the Green Cross 
which bore the initials of the Spanish sovereigns- 
the cross between and a crown above each letter: 
others with guns on their shoulders. When all are 



8o COLUMBUS 

on shore Colon raises his head and arms to Heaven, 
then speaks and kisses the ground three times. 
Col. Thou blessed land ! God hath removed the sea ! 
O Thou most solid earth, so full of dew 
And fragrant sweetness; Ah! I love thee well. 
My tongue shall not restrain my song for thee, 
Nor my lips hold back from thy dewy cheeks. 

(Kisses the ground once.) 
My breath must be as myrrh to speak of thee; 
My voice as silver as thy shiny mere; 
My words like flowers in thy verdent fields ! 
Thou beauteous ground! Thou broad and stretching 

shore ! 
Corporeal apocalypse of Truth! 
Thou dost indeed make my faith seem so small! 
Thou wilt not flee from our oft cheated gaze 
As many a mirage that has flecked our eyes 
With semblance of the earth upon the sea. 
These waters will not wear thy coasts away, 
Thou shalt remain, planted as if in stocks; 
Again I mix thy dust upon my lips. (Kisses the ground.) 
Must not contending foes capitulate? 
A multitude of fields be praised? O God, 
Thou who hast put a bourne upon our prows. 
And raised this land beneath our brackish hulls 
To bring Adventure's end, — we praise thee well, 
And thus once more embrace this cherished groimd. 

(Kisses it.) 
And now let prayer be said. (All kneel.) 



COLUMBUS 8i 

Col. "O Lord, (/) eternal and mighty God, who by 
thy holy word hast created the Heavens, the land 
and the sea, hallowed and glorified by thy name; 
praised by thy Majesty, which vouchsafed to suffer 
thy holy name, by the work of thy humble servant 
to be made known and proclaimed in this part of 
the world." 

(They arise.) 

Col. (After the ship-captains gather around him.) 
God hath removed the sea; Earth's pillars rise; 
Their friezes jut with many palms and flowers. 
The waters hath an end; tho many waves 
Spoke their unceasing word of farther seas, 
Each lapped the margin of this hidden isle, 
With which we rightfully possess ourselves 
In Ferdinand and Isabella's name. 
The Sovereigns of Castile, and evermore 
Let its own name be this, — San Salvador. 

CosA. Aye, Sir; you speak truly. 

M. PiNzoN. Praised be the Monarchs of Spain. 

V. PiNzoN. And this new land, San Salvador. 

Col. Let all, to show allegiance unto me 
As Admiral o'er these seas ; as viceroy o'er 
This coast, speak now their ayes and raise a hand, 
For I do represent the Crowns of Spain. 

(Sailors, etc., shout "Aye, aye," and raise their hands.) 

CosA. Aye, Admiral and Viceroy! 



82 COLUMBUS 

M. PiNZ. Aye, Sir; Admiral and Viceroy. 
V. PiNZ. Colon, Admiral and Viceroy. 

{Each raises his hand as bid.) 
Col. Very good; now — ha! what is this? 
(A sailor bows at his feet, another seizes his robe and 
kisses it; others crowd around him, showing great 
joy and signs of allegiance to the Admiral.) 
1ST Sl. Forgiveness, Admiral ! 
2ND Sl. Ah, let me kiss thy hand! 

(Seizes it; does so.) 

3RD Sl. ri obey thee evermore. 

CoL. You devotees of mishap, I forgive you all. 
Arise ! 

4TH Sl. Oh, Admiral, I'l love and follow thee ! 

5TH Sl. (Seizes Col.'s robe.) Oh let me touch 
some part of thee, thou 
Messenger of God! 

Col. Thy myths were fabulous; let not thy praise 
Be as extremely made; forbear and test 
Thy words by sober loyalty, for soon 
We must explore this land and build our homes. 

(Sailors retire; group together and gaze around.) 

M. PiNZ. Ah, what if this indeed be some new world 
Unmapped, untrod by all except those men? 

(Pointing to the nativ^es.) 

CoL. New world? (g) Ah no, but your suggestive 
words 
Embolden my imagination here. 



COLUMBUS 83 

Uncautiously it treads the path that lures. 

A vision gleams before me, — worlds, new worlds! 

A vestal continent oped to the old! 

Thou maiden land, retiring in these seas. 

Concealed in safety by the sable night 

And blushing silver in the redd'ning dawn, 

Thus garmented in God's unchanging way. 

Adventure pays its court to thee and wins. 

Now thou art to be wedded to the old ! 

What we thus join together, tho the sea 

Hath stemmed the yearning lips of continents, 

And thus restrained their kiss, let never part! 

Thy dowry from the old, Young land, be Christ, 

And gold thy gift unto the elder realm. 

Oh, from thy steadfast soil, let nations spring 

And peoples flourish and outpeer our own. 

Then my adventure shall be glory crowned; 

A coronet of continents be wov'n 

To rest upon the Heaven-high brow of Faith. 

Ah, let my words so overpaint my dream 

That it outclimb the gilded frame of speech 

And then, to match these solid shores, expand 

Into a true identity with them. 

O dreamy fabric! Child of profuse joy! 

Thou thrilling denizen of Fancy's realm, 

Whose steps e'en falter on such fostering ground. 

And must thou die at birth ? Then I'l allay 

My rapture and my mourning here to-day. 

M. PiNZ. Ah! Colon, what strange words fly forth 
from thee 
Upon a passing thought of mine! 



84 COLUMBUS 

Col. O well, they're gone, so let them speed and be 
But an expended dream that yields no gain. 
Ah see, these red-men! Since their fright recedes 
They now advance to greet us. Pinzon, wave 
Your hand to show we welcome them. 
(CoL. and Pinz. wave their hands, bidding the natives 
approach. They come nearer, talking among them- 
selves; some carry zvooden lances; all have orna- 
ments of teeth and hones on them. Pinzon holds 
out a little hell to them; rings it. Natives come and 
look at it in heivilderment.) 
CoL. Give them your bells, Pinzon, and I shall let 
them have these beads. 

(Pinzon distributes some hawks-bells; Col. gives them 

beads. ) 
CosA. Let them have these colored caps. 
{Gives out caps. Natives show great joy with them. 
Put beads about their necks; ring the bells; put 
caps on their heads after they are shown how, then 
take them off again.) 
CoL. Ah, Cosa, see ! This red-man feels my sword. 
{A native handles Col.'s sword blade; feels its sharp- 
ness, then draws his hand away quickly and han- 
dles his armor and robe.) 
V. Pinzon. Here's one pulling my beard. Admiral. 
{A native touches his beard. Others crowd around and 
feel their clothes and armor. The sailors give them 
beads and bells, in exchange for Hints, polished 
teeth and other ornaments.) 



COLUMBUS 85 

V. PiNZ. Look, look! Here are some with golden 

ornaments upon them. 
Col. Where ? 
M. PiNZ. This way. 
{Moves a few steps toward tivo natives, — talking to the 

sailors, — who have small gold trinklets hanging from 

their noses.) 
Gold, Admiral, gold! 

CoL. {Following him.) Ah now, we have found the 

gold 
M. Pin;. Think of these red-men with such fine gold. 

{The sailors move aivay to the natives whom Col. has 
just left.) 
Col. Red-men adorned with gold need better names. 
Let us call them Indians, for we must be 
Near to India's shore. 

M. PiNZ. Indians! We'l call them Indians. 
CosA. {Approaching.) Indians! Indians! 
CoL. {Showing the natives more hells and heads and 
indicating his desire to exchange them for gold.) 
I wonder where this gold is found. 
{The natives eagerly make the exchange; they regard 
the heads and hells as gifted with supernatural 
pozvers. They play with them; compare them with 
each other's. 
M. PiNZON^ holding up one of their golden ornaments 
hefore their eyes, indicates hy motions his desire to 
know where the gold is found. The natives do not 
understand immediately. He motions again. They 



86 COLUMBUS 

smile and glance hack and forth at each other. 
Then one of them points southward, inland, indi- 
cating by his gestures a high mountain,^ 

M. PiNZ. They mean in some hill, Admiral. 

Col. Can it be far? 

M. PiNz. We must go in search of it. 

Col. Yes; we must be off immediately. Take this 
man as our guide. Collect our men; we can return 
by nightfall and then retreat to our ships. 

{He motions to the native that he wishes him as a guide. 
The man understands and remains near to the Ad- 
miral ) 

M. PiNz. (To the others,) Fall in line, men; we 
are to march inland. 

(The natives, with the exception of the guide, startled 
at the imperative tones, withdraw somewhat to- 
gether. The sailors follow them a few steps.) 

CoL. Men, fall in line ! 

(All are ready to march hut the sailors; they hesitate 
and show slight signs of disohedience, and indif- 
ference. ) 

M. PiNZON. Come, men; we're off to search for gold. 
Col. (Approaching them.) Men, obey me Follow 
us; we are on the trail of gold. 

(The sailors move toward Pinzon and make themselves 
ready to march.) 
Col. (Placing himself at their front.) Now, men; 
we begin our exploration. We have found the land 



COLUMBUS ' 87 

and shall next discover gold. Give me obedience in 
every command. Now let us march. 
(All march away to the South; the natives, wonder- 
struck at the unknown words and actions, draw 
hack to watch them disappear. Then they, too, 
slink away.) 



Scene 3. 

Time: About seven months later than the last scene. 

At the Court of Ferdinand and Isabella in a large hall 
in Barcelona. Present: The King, Queen, Prince 
JuAN^ seated under a richly decorated canopy; 
Talevera, Mendoza, Gonzalez, Juan Perez, 
courtiers, ladies, attendants, and the Royal Choir. 
Ferd. And so his dream was true ; he found the land. 
Isab. Plow much we owe to him! Those gorgeous 
isles 

Are even more majestical than his 

Own soul's desire painted for him. 

Ferd. Yes. 

I now rejoice that we so gave him aid. 

Tho kings, more cautious than such mariners, 

Must keep their throne beneath the pole star's rays, 

Yet they may venture too, when dreams are prov'n 

Cross-tissued with much gold and pearl as his. 
Isab. He's coming now! Oh, see! 

(Col., accompanied by Deza and several courtiers; with 
attendants carrying specimens of plumed birds, 



88 COLUMBUS 

lisards and conies; palms and lowers; gold ore, 
pearls, trinkets of the natives and with six natives 
themselves, enters and moves forward to the royal 
dais. The Court shows great enthusiasm over him 
and his train.) 

Ferd. What wealth he brings! 

Deza. Your Majesties, I pleaded once for Colon 
But his imperial works now speak his worth, 
And none in this world, in all Time, need sound 
A sceptre word for him! He is a king 
O'er seas and isles by right of mighty deeds. 

IsAB. (Arising.) Our Admiral of the sea! 

Ferd. (Arising.) Our Viceroy o'er its isles! 

IsAB. O Colon, not Orpheus with his music sweet 
Could so compel a train as thou! Beasts, birds. 
Palms, flowers, men, — these show thy surfeit of success. 
No Orpheun retinue tramped o'er the sea 
As thine. 

Ferd. We welcome thee and thy trophies too. 

ISAB. Stand near to us and tell thy wonderous tale. 
(Ferd. and Isab. seat themselves.) 

Col. O Gracious Majesties, my King, my Queen, 
Behind me is the evidence of Truth 
Revealed, defended, proven by my deeds. 
Yet how were it done ? By God's help and thine. 
O Queen, thy jewels cast into the sea. 
Have been transfigured to a hundred isles; 
Great King, thy banners have spread their rippling 

cheeks 
To the sweet kissing winds of other lands. 



COLUMBUS 89 

Thy caravels, once charged with growing hopes, 
Have made exchange for treasures from those cHmes. 
Your Majesties, that which I promised to do 
I have performed. {Raising his right arm and pointing 
to the dignitaries of the Church.) 

O Sirs, the Earth is round; 
No deserts in the sea ; the oceans are 
Not plains. 

Talev. Admiral, you do misunderstand 
Our true interpretations of God's word. 
With this additional light, we have surmised 
Our true beliefs were always as they are; 
That is, much as you say. 

IsAB. Leave that, Colon, 

Depict the travelled sea-scape ; give our ears 
The echoes of thy hearings and our eyes 
Re-visions thou canst conjure. Oh! I yearn 
To hear of conquests, frays, sea-sieges,— all,— 
Both risks and winnings ; losses, for my heart 
Doth love adventure, tho I am a Queen. 

Ferd. Yes; Admiral, relate thy travels whereby 
Spain's 
Present glory is enhanced; the future's won 
Before its ripened years. 

Col. Your Majesties, 

During our voyage hence, our only lack 
Was sailor's trust, good faith; the elements 
For our assistance with each other vied 
T' outdo the kindly powers of each. 
The waves, impatient with a tardy breeze 



90 COLUMBUS 

Whom they would chasten to alacrity, 

Moved unreluctant past our hulls. The winds, — 

The tireless steeds of Providence, — would fain 

Have changed some current of the sea that drove 

Our helm betimes somewhat awry; the stars 

Fixed for our fortune, of use to mind and heart, 

Uneasy at the Earth's mere natural powers, 

Declared our progress tedious and cast 

Their shining proxies in the waves to show 

Our prows the sea-roads with more light; — they were 

The glow-worms of our ocean path. — At eve, 

The sun spread out, as arching wings from Heaven, 

A yellow gloaming o'er the rounded sea. 

As if the sky would mirror the mounts of gold 

There in the west. O ! as it sank within 

The flaming waves, it magnetized my heart 

With an impatient hope and passionate zeal 

To follow where it fled. At morn it rose 

To gild anew our quest, — paled by our sleep, — 

And warm the sea's heart to a fever pulse 

That its quick throbbing waves might drive our ships 

At better pace. Sweet Heaven smiled benign 

Upon our hopes, God's powers in unison 

Jewelled our crown and o'er plateaus of love, 

Far from all danger's level, we sailed. Birds, weeds, 

Tree branches, reconnoitering in the Deep, 

Hailed our arrival. On a freshening morn, 

Whose dew drops with prismatic power, increased 

Seven-fold the natural colors of the isles, 

We saw the beauteous lands and made it yourt. 



COLUMBUS 91 

IsAB. O wonderful! Wonderful! We praise thee. 

Ferd. Thou surely hast fulfilled thy dreams. 

Talev. Well done, 

O Admiral! 

Col. But listen further, yet. 

In those fair climes the sea's abysm is 
Not clouded with Plutonian darkness, — no; — 
Tis opalled with fair rays ; its fathoms are 
Chromatic steps unto its treasure groves 
Whose glistening shells and colored waves reflect 
The dazzling wealth within the lands they girt. 

IsAB. We must thank God for such domains. 

Col. But hear ! 

In those discovered isles, there're human souls, — 
Such as those red-men whom you see in Court. 

{All gaze upon the Indians.) 
Behold some parcels of their wealth ; rare birds, 
{Pointing to them and the other things.) 
That sing and hum, of plumage beautiful ; 
New fruits and many colored fish; maize, pulse; 
Spices and yuca roots; dogs, Hzards, plants 
Of aromatic power; great trees, palms, flowers; 
Transparent rivers, sweetening salt seas, 
And many amber mountain streams which must 
Arise in Paradise; marine shells hued 
In sunset's colors, more beautiful than ours. 
Blue skies and balmy airs ; houses of palms 
And groves of growing wealth. 

IsAB, 'Tis Paradise 

Itself! More sweet than sunny April in 
Our Andalusia! 



9i COLUMBUS 

Col. Tis not Cipango, 

My good Queen, but it is just as rich 
And full of gold and gems. We cruised about 
Found many isles ; the first we named for Christ, 
San Salvador; others for your Majesties. 

Ferd. O Admiral, thou hast won great gratitude. 
My best imaginings can scarcely cope 
With thy reports. 

CoL. O King, I have but touched 
Some surface seam of wealth. What glories there! 
My words are only gloss to them; the trophies here 
Are scarcely twigs from mammoth trees; the isles 
But crystal grains to tempt us to satiety 
And lure our prows to further quest. O Queen, 
Vast lands and tribes await Christ's benison. 
New seas will roar with joy at cleaving keels, 
And many ruffian waves that heretofore 
Have bullied our unburdened hulls, will sink beneath 
Our heavy treasure laden caravels. 
That, mount-like'l crush their foes. Great wealth awaits 
Thy land since I have oped the ocean's gates! 

ISAB. My well-deserving Admiral, would I 
Could sail the Deep as thou, to see those realms! 

Ferd. Thou hast indeed flung wide the ocean's gates 
And shalt be well repaid therefor by Spain. 

CoL. The coronal seas that girt those kingly isles 
Roll their blue billows now before mine eyes! 
The sweet lands bow their crested tops to me; 
The opaque ceilings of the earth can't hide 



COLUMBUS 93 

Its treasures from my knowing sight and now 
It shall surrender them to Spain. 

IsAB. Praise God! 

Ferd. O let us sink upon our knees in praise. 

{All present do as the king bids; natives imitate those 
around them.) 

(The choir of the Royal Chapel chant the Te Denm, 
accompanied by instrumental music. All arise when 
the music ceases.) 

IsAB. (Seated; to Colon.) My tongue is barren of 
expressive words 
By whose capacity my joy would be 
Transported, Admiral, to thy ears again. 
But in so open a confessional 
My heart unburdens more than if alone 
And shall not be insolvent in its speech. 
Spain thanks thee; we, her Monarchs also give 
Great praise and great reward. Old conquerors 
Caesar or Hannibal, have tracked the Alps ; 
Have roped with roads the Heaven climbing peaks. 
They're on the solid earth, but in the sea ; — 
Whose treachery and most unstable floors; 
Whose awful terrors halt the bravest hearts; 
Whose watery peaks, dashing for Heaven first, 
So lose their virtues, they dive down to Hell, — 
Midst such, thou hast cleaved highways for the world 
That never need repair; that Time can not destroy 
Nor avalanches from a water}" mount 
E'er bury from our gaze or power. 



94 COLUMBUS 

Ferd. Great Spain 

Doth thank thee, so the World. Now lead us forth. 

Be at our head ; let each follow us in rank. 

Thou must be now beholden by the City, 

Col. {Kneeling.) My gratitude, Great King and 
Queen accept. 

I am God's humble servant and thine own. 

{He arises; proceeds slowly to the door at the other 
end of the hall, follozved by his own attendants and 
natives, then by Ferdinand and Isabella, Prince 
Juan, the Ecclesiastics, courtiers, ladies and their 
attendants. 

During the processional the choir sings a national 
melody; the voices dying away as the procession 
passes from sight. A moment later shouts of the 
populace in the street, are heard. Cries of "Hail, 
Admiral,'' etc. They grow fainter as the procession 
moves farther from the hall.) 



ACT IV. 

Scene i. 

Time: Seven years later; at end of Colon's third voy- 
age, November, 1500; the day he landed in Cadi:; 
in chains. 

A street in the same city which leads from the wharves, 
seen at the extreme right, to the house of the 
Alcalde of the city, seen a little in the background, 



COLUMBUS 95 

at the extreme left. The street, in the foreground, 
leads to the house, curving toward it at the left, and 
lies at the edge of a park, whose benches and sum- 
mer houses are along its pathway. Some trees and 
vines grow in the foreground at the extreme left. 

{Enter two courtiers at the left, a third one at the right.) 

1ST Ctr. Here is some one coming who can tell us. 
2ND Ctr. Yes; very likely. 

{They approach each other.) 

1ST Ctr. Good morning, Sefior. 

3RD Ctr. Good morning, Seiiores. {They stop.) 

1ST Ctr. Do you know any news of the Admiral 
Colon ? 

3RD Ctr. I do indeed. Have you not heard any? 

2ND Ctr. But little; tell us what you know. 

3RD Ctr. Why, he was brought here in chains this 
very morning over the sea, from Hispaniola. 

1ST Ctr. In chains? 

2ND Ctr. The Admiral in chains? 

3RD Ctr. Yes; nor were they chains of gold either, 
and he is probably bellowing in them like an ox. I 
saw him come ashore and burst in tears and cries 
when the populace gathered round him. He is 
being escorted to the Alcalde's house yonder, and 
may be coming this way. 

2ND Ctr. This way? Then we'l see him. But why 
in chains, man? 

2RD Ctr. What, have you not learned how Bobadilla 



5 COLUMBUS 

caught him? His victims were still on the gibbets 
when the King's messenger arrived. 

1ST Ctr. What victims? 

3RD Ctr. Why, Spaniards, man, of course. 

2ND Ctr. Spaniards hanged by an Italian! Tell us 
more. 

3RD Ctr. He has been charged with thieving pearls; 
with punishing his men cruelly and doling out short 
rations to them, so he deserves his chains. He had 
even refused to baptize the native children. 

1ST Ctr. Why? 

3RD Ctr. I don't know exactly, but I judge to make 
slaves of them easier. 

2ND Ctr. The Queen gave him money to embark, 
and he's been thieving his men's wages out of it, 
but now is caught in the very act. Ha! these 
Italians will dupe us no more. 

3RD Ctr. Why, he misruled his people and 'tis said 
that he would throw off his allegiance to Spain 
and make himself sovereign of the isles. He got 
the chains where he needed them right enough. 

1ST Ctr. Did he bring any gold or treasures from 
his new world? 

3RD Ctr. Treasures? Yes, they came with him; 
those hawk-eyed red-men, with yellow palms; his 
own sick sailors with jaundiced cheeks, mocking 
our hope of gold. 

2ND Ctr. I thought so ; much cost and little gain. 

3RD Ctr. He'l want to sail again too, when his cry 
is over. 



COLUMBUS ^ 

1ST Ctr. Ah! He'd butt the walls of Heaven with 

his prows to see if the sun is gold. 
2ND Ctr. That he would. How many voyages has 

he made now? 
3RD Ctr. This is the end of his third and who's the 

richer for it? 
1ST Ctr. Nobody. 
3RD Ctr. This exotic upstart is doing naught but 

ruining the chivalry of Spain, and he is as stubborn 

as wire grass. 
2ND Ctr. Well, even the Queen, will cast an arctic 

eye on him now, to be sure. 
1ST Ctr. And think that the King rescinded grants 

to other mariners to maintain this man's monopoly! 

Ah, it's awful ! 
3RD Ctr. He is a maker of graves for Spanish hidal- 
gos. 
1ST Ctr. Yes; Castilian pride is much depleted by 

his folly. 
3RD Ctr. Why, he compelled our gentlemen to labor 

on some emergency constructions and other things. 
1ST Ctr. Well, his peascod is shelled forever. 
3RD Ctr. Yes, but I would that some one could chain 

his will. Earthquake, sun-burst or star-fall he'l 

have his way and sail again. 
2ND Ctr. So you think he's still standing pat on his 

folly? 
3RD Ctr. Pat as the barnacles on the hull that hauled 

him here. 
1ST Ctr. He'l get nobody to sail with him, for he 



98 COLUMBUS 

could scarcely get men or ships when he last em- 
barked. 

3RD Ctr. I know he had to take a lot of jail-birds 
and malefactors, but the people shouted out such 
a deal of sympathy for the disgraced man a bit ago 
that he would probably get all Cadiz to sail with 
him to-morrow and quite a sufficiency in even half 
a year. 

1ST Ctr. Ah, the rabble's heart has no such long 
holdover as that, especially for a foreigner. 

3RD Ctr. I suppose that's so, for they rebelled against 
him even in Hispaniola. The Court knows of all 
his arrogance there. That's why Bobadilla was sent 
to assume command, and he did his business well 
too. He seized the Admiral's house and all belong- 
ings, cuffed him with iron chains, dispatched him 
east and here he is. 

2ND Ctr. He did the business very well. 

3RD Ctr. And now it is the sovereign's turn to fol- 
low suit. Their judgment will never preserve the 
remnants of his exploded ambitions, in spite of hi> 
self-vindictive words. 

1ST Ctr. His mountains of gold, where are they? 

2ND Ctr. What a clever dupe, he was ! 

1ST Ctr. Well, I'm glad to be informed about him.' 

2ND Ctr. Yes, and now that I know the facts, Fl 
pass them on. (Starts to go; stops.) Eh, by the 
way, what has become of his friend, Sefior En- 
riquez ? 



COLUMBUS 



99 



3RD Ctr. I think she is in the crowd around him; I 

passed her a moment ago. 
2ND Ctr. What will she say now? 
3RD Ctr. Oh, a lot of gush, probably ! 
1ST Ctr. Well, good day,, Senor. Spanish honor 

always falls plumb on its feet, if it ever take a 

tumble at all. 
2ND Ctr. Thank you, Senor, for the information. 

I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, but I wanted 

to know about the man's affairs. (Sounds of an 

approaching crowd; voices and exclamations are 

heard. They become louder.) 
1ST Ctr. What is that? Why, the man must be 

coming this way already. (Peering to the right.) 
3RD Ctr. It is he, with the crowd; hasten. Let us 

hide behind the corner. 

(The voices are now audible. Women and men are 
heard crying: "Poor man" "O the pity of it"; "the 
Admiral in chains.") 

2ND Ctr. Come ! (Darts to the left behind the vines, 
follozved by the other two.) 
(Enter at the right the Admiral and his two brothers, 
carrying their chains. The Alcalde of Cadiz walks 
next to Colon ; the Admiral's son Diego by his side. 
Behind them is a crowd of men, women and children 
crying out as indicated. After walking a few steps. 
Colon stops; turns to the people; bursts into tears; 
then speaks. The people stop.) 

Col. O ye good people, leave me. Go ye home ! 



100 COLUMBUS 

1ST MAN. Nay, Admiral, we'l see thee safely stowed. 
2ND MAN. Why art thou so ill-treated? 
1ST WOM. Christ's mother have mercy on thee! 
2ND WOM. We'l follow thee to prevent more harm 
falling on thee. 

{Many cries: "Poor man'; ''What awful chains"; "God 
a' mercy on thee.") 

CoL. O send them away ! 
Alc. ri do so, Sir. 

{The Alcalde approaches the crowd of followers and 
commands them to retire. Colon turns to look on 
them as they slowly move backward, and then, as if 
exhausted by his emotions, sinks down on one of 
the benches near the roadside. After a few more 
cries from the people: "Christ's mother protect 
thee," etc., they retire at the right. Colon's broth- 
ers sit down near to him-.) 

Alcalde. {Returning from the right.) Ah, that is 

good; sit here and rest awhile. 
CoL. Yes, I must stop a moment. 
Alc. {Peering toward the left.) I see some friends 

coming. Let me go and greet them. 

{Passes out at the left.) 

CoL. Those good people were not like Bobadilla's 
rabble who shouted their jeers as we stepped aboard 
at Hispaniola. 

Don D. Bobadilla's friends were taken from jail to 
see us embark as exiles from the West. 



COLUMBUS loi 

Bart. Why, we were prisoned in the sweaty hull 
Of yonder caravel, as common slaves. 

Col. And think that he has stolen and concealed 
My papers that would exculpate me now. 
O thou just and honest inquisitor! 
Why, when I reached the isle, such turmoil; ah. 
Such revolt was on, as would, I do avow. 
Have caused the land to founder in the sea. 
My brothers, would I now build hospitals 
And churches, — they'd be called but dens of thieves. 
Yet all I've done has been of good intent. 

Bart. But judged by slanders, and by your enemies. 

Don D. {To Col.) Your letter's sent to Doiia Juafia. 

CoL. Yes. 

{Enter at the left the Alcalde, Juan Perez and Beatrice 

Enriouez. They approach Colon.) 

CoL. {With great emotion.) Beatrice, you come to 
see me in these chains ! ( Takes her hand; looks 
into her face.) 

Beat. Colon, I had to come when I heard of them. 

Col. Sit down. {She does so near to Bartholomew ; 
converses with him.) 

Juan. Colon, my son, these chains from the west. 

Col. Ah, Juan, yes ; from the west ? 

Juan. May God release you. 

CoL. God will in some way, I believe and yet 
Had any link an eye to see me thus 
It would undo its cleavage to the rest 
And its coherence be self-paralyzed 
So it could never bind again. 



102 COLUMBUS 

Juan. My heart is grieved ! This, thy reward ; these 
chains. 
The Admiral of the ocean fettered thus ! 
Yet Colon, thou art free; I know thy spir't. 
O what a fire God's eye enkindles, when. 
With gaze persistent, He doth flame the soul, 
And it arises on a master flash 
Above its flesh and foals its freedom there, 
As thine can do and will. 

Col. Just as of old, 

Juan, thou dost promote my spirit. Thy words 
Are incense on my smouldering ire. 

Juan. My son 

The Queen will order thy release, be still. 

Col. I can't ; my heart is fired up again. 
O God, wherefore these chains, these chains, these 
chains ? 

{He grasps them in his hand,) 
Ye scourging links that bind my blameless limbs, 
Melt and dissolve away ! O ye black hands 
Unloose your unrelaxing grasp! Avaunt! 
Ye innocent profaners of my flesh 
That spur my passions most consuming ire, 
Deflowering all my calm without avail, 
How dare ye thus confine the scopeless tread 
That hath o'er-arched the billows; defied their depths 
With foot-falls that have shattered fear and charted 

paths 
On pathless seas ; dispelled their spirits too ; a step ; 
Which hath so measured leagues upon the Main 



COLUMBUS 103 

That Time shall be new dated from my quest ; 

All Europe richer by my bateless zeal, 

And His'try with unwonted words and pride 

Shall call me Colon, Prince of Pioneers? 

Had I as many sins as ye have links. 

And each as black, still ye would scant my worth. 

speak ! Ope your cold lips and pardon ask 
For your aspersion on my limbs and life. 
Speak! Speak! ye mute extortioners of peace! 

(Lets chains falls; silence an instant,) 
Beat. O Colon, beloved, waste thou no words on 
them. 
Save your appeal for the sweet and tender Queen. 

Juan. Colon, my son; extend this pause in peace. 
And let your anger be appeased ; 'tis best. 

(Col. with his head hozved, does not heed; raises it, and 

stretches his arm seazvard.) 

Col. Hear ye ! From yon Oblivion's Empire there 

Within the sea, — Th'unruly, th 'ambition-thwarting sea, — 

1 snatched those fair and fertile isles. 

Behold! My rewards; from the Heathen, — gold; 
From Christians, — iron chains ; from yonder West, 
Lands, love; but from the East, — a prison ship. 
O God were ever man's reward and praise 
Fastened so rudely to him as I to iron ? 
The sea, whose countenance is ever frank 
Tho rough, hath never ambushed me, but lo ! 
Mine enemies, with over blooded pride — 
That for the moment only is aplomb, — 



104 COLUMBUS 

Have made me welter with accursed weights. 
Ah ! how this subjugation shames my will ! 
My very friends; — the throng here in the street, 
Have gazed on me in this degrading garb! 
Sink me with plummets ! Let me die in the sea 
That I have loved ! 'Twill rust these chains away ! 
An Admiral iron-bound! Ye bitter manacles, 
Thine every link seems Hydra-headed now, 
Gnawing my soul with twice ten thousand fangs ! 
Juan. O Colon, stop; rest now. 
Beat. O Col'n, beloved — 

Col. Must he who trespassed Neptune's virgin floods : 
Whose will was as a plough-share in the Deep ; 
Who bruited to the blinded gender this: — 
The roundness of our Earth ; — linked land with land ; 
Must he who hath peerlessly hath raced with Risk, 
Danger, Privation, Toil ; who proved and lived his Faith, 
Undaunted and unstained in soul, be badgered thus 
By Jealousy, by Pride, and Enmity? 
Jove chained Prometheus, but no god chained me. 
O what rank offal mine accusers are ! 
The wanderings of Ulysses, what were they 
Compared to mine over those seas, and yet — 
O God, these brutish links that bind amain 
The very limbs that twice times thrice have paced 
The' unfreighted seas between their terminal roars, 
Strike fire upon my spirit! Go, — take this gem 
Of reckless passion, born in woe ; conceived 
By Envy's cruel assault upon my life, 
And give it to my foes ; then say it is 



COLUMBUS los 

A new-world stone, base-blooded, polished, cut, 
For setting in the crown of Flunkeydom ! 
Now may I rest. My ire is framed in speech. 
Diego, my son, come hither ; stand by me. 
Give me your hand. 

DiEG. My father, what you will. 

{Moves to him; takes his hand. The Alcalde goes out 
at the left.) 

Juan. Colon, allow no vindication of thyself 
So given in hatred to besmirch thy soul. 
Let God be judge; He will reward thee all. 
And cast these symbols of rude insolence 
Far and forever from thy limbs. Have faith 
As thou hast had it in thy quest; have peace 
As thou hast had in former trial and woe. 

Col. 'Tis hard to keep my peace and hold my faith : 
More hard than ever in my life. Ah, see! 
My services have brought me what? Nothing; 
No roof in Spain ; I live by borrowing ; 
Perils and toils; age and infirmities; 
Thieves and enemies in East and West; 
The insolence of masters ; minions too. 
Wearisome days and nights. O what a world! 
And I gave more of it to Spain! 

Juan. This life is but a transient test, despite 
The glory or the contumely that man 
Bestows or flings. Such fabrics fritter soon. 
Struggles and stress are rife; rewards are rare. 
Curses and pageantries dissolve on Earth ; 
The unstained soul is piloted to sea, — ■■ 
Another sea that thou art vet to cross. — 



io6 COLUMBUS 

Col. My dreams of Ophir-mounts, well stocked witit 
gold, 
Have waned; my unsubstantial promises 
To turn the Indes wealth against the Turk, — 
As mirages upon the ocean's verge, 
Have passed. But O I thank God ; the land was there ; 
The Earth a sphere ; the sea, no demon's lair ! 

Juan. Thou dost speak truth; for it thou shalt be 
praised. 
Men will forgive thee much and God, for thou 
Hast done His will and given our age its boon, 
Altho thou art awarded chains and grief. 

CoL. Speak not of chains; I had forgotten them 
In other thoughts, but now their hammer blows 
Begin again upon the anvil of 
My soul. O give me peace, Dumb Rings; give peace! 

{Picks them up again.) 
Ye chains. Synod of other's sins; congealed. 
Well forged and linked, — thus to contract the scope 
Of limbs that hath bestridden the western sea 
Before the van of those that vaunt their pride! 
Let Justice thaw out your tenacity, 
For tears, however salt, would never wear 
Your crusted thews away! Ye manacles. 
Parterre of iron plagues that basely bloom 
Under the sable sun of Calumny, 
Ye would annul mine honor and my worth. 
Ye chains! Mute choir from some Plutonian mine! 
Base mintage of my quest that yields me but 
Tempestuous ire, the sepulchre of Peace ! 



COLUMBUS 107 

Each link a cumber, riven upon my spirit 
That erstwhile all of Europe could not hold; 
Each link a shoal of Glory, on whose flats 
Malevolent winds have blown me ! Ye Dumb Rings, 
Mute moorings of my flesh ; O ye mean Manacles 
That measure the Grand Chivalry of Spain, 
My spirit, tho worn with yearning so, at last 
Outreaches ye afar ! Then may your cold 
And clutching hands confine my limbs ! My soul's 
Unmastered yet, so may the petty world 
Complain, for I, an Admiral of the sea 
Am not unkinged my chains or calumny. 
(During the latter part of this speech, Queen Isabella.. 
ushered by the Alcalde, accompanied by Ferdinand 
Colon, her page, Bishop Fonesca, and a small 
retinue of court attendants, enters at the left. See- 
ing Colon enthralled in his own emotion, she sig- 
nals to her escorts for silence, and hears to the end, 
from the line beginning ''Base mintage," etc. Colon 
with his back partly turned to them, does not notice 
their entrance,) 
Beat. The Queen! 
Alcal. Colon, Her Majesty Isabella. 
(Colon turns suddenly.) 
Col. My Queen, thou too dost see me in these chains I 

{Prostrates himself before her and weeps.) 
Isab, Colon, arise. Thou are not unkinged yet. 

{To a servant.) 
Strike off those iron links from him and from 



io8 COLUMBUS 

His brothers too. Whilst Isabella lives, 
Such chains shall not measure her chivalry. 
My spirit too, outreaches them afar 
And frowns on fetters by whoever given 
To him who hath bestowed a world on Spaia, 
{Servant does as bid while she speaks.) 

Col. Ye fallen chains, your iron citadels 
Are vanquished by a word of love ! O ye Dumb Rings, 
Ye are not dumb to me! Ye speak of lies, 
Hate, torture, trials; triumphs too, at last. 
My limbs are now released and that is all; 
My spirit was ever free. Beloved Queen, 
My heart is thine ; thy word with gracious power 
Has rived the dumb coherence of those links. 
Your Majesty, a world of gratitude 
I give unto thee now and may it be 
A gift for thine own soul, wherein the wealth 
Of India's realm can never penetrate. 

Don D. Beloved Queen, I give my weak words now 
For stronger gratitude than tongue can voice. 

Bart. O Queen, I add my simple heart-felt thanks. 

IsAB. I heard of these, thy chains, — Colon ; thy letters 
And thy pleas have moved my heart ; the complaints 
That Bobadilla makes shall not receive 
A formal notice at our hands. 

Col. Good Queen 

Out of my honest heart I thank thee well, 
For I've been loyal always unto thee 
And to His Majesty; to Spain and have 
Bestowed my life for her ; her pride, her wealth, 



COLUMBUS 109 

And what is done amiss, is not amiss by will. 
But now my chains are prostrate, I am free; 
My limbs can tread the Main again, but first 
Restore my office and my dignities 
For they are justly earned and coveted. 
As trophies of Adventure and of Faith. 

IsAB. It shall be done and for all wrongs to thee 
Just recompense be made; thy eager prows, 
That scent the luring brine be bid unfold 
Their sails unto the servile winds and flee. 

Col. Again I give thee thanks. O triple Joy! 
Chains loosed, titles restored and now my ships 
Will trace once more an arc upon the sea 
And by't complete my stormy round of life. 
As in the morning of my quest, so now 
At eve, it glimmers yet with an auroral light, — 
Thy love, O Queen! These chains that symbolize 
Man's hate, shall go with me into my grave. 
Diego, keep them for me 'till the end. 

(Passes the chains to him.) 
(To the Queen.) 

My heart shall hold the memory of thy love 
While here on Earth and while in Heaven above. 

ISAB. Thy words are full of grief. 

Col. My happiness 

Has been corrupted by the buzzard world. 
And only God re-dowers a crippled heart 
With unadulterate joy. 

Juan. Then may God do't. 

IsAB. Thine unhorizoned joy of former years 



no COLUMBUS 

Now narrowed to such scope, 

Hath it been shrunken by my deeds? 

Col. Nay, nay, 

Good Queen; it hath not, and for thee, my spirit 
Tho it be wearied, will soon sail again. 

IsAB. A little sleep will mitigate thy heart. 
Go, take a peaceful rest, of which those chains 
For many weeks have robbed thy soul, and when 
Thou canst, haste to Granada's Court. The King 
And I, will give thee welcome there. 

CoL. {Takes his son, Ferdinand, by the hand; kisses 
him on the forehead.) My son! Come, brothers. 
Your Majesty, farewell. 
(CoL., Don Diego, and Bart, bow themselves out at the 
left. Diego, Isabella's other page, remains. The 
Alcalde draws Beatrice aside; converses with her.) 

IsAB. Father Juan, didst thou comfort? 

Juan. I did, my Queen. 

FoNESCA. Your Majesty, I'd have you think of this. 

IsAB. What is it. Bishop? 

FoNS. You will not allow 

Colon to sail again? 

IsAB. Would you have me lie? 

FoNS. Will you permit that isle, Hispaniola, 
To be twice ravaged by his hands? 

Juan. O Bishop, 

Thou dost spur the good man's honest heart! 
My Queen — 

IsAB. Pray cease ; my will shall not be changed. 

Upon your urgence, Fonesca, we sent 



COLUMBUS 111 

Bobadilla, but with no charge to seize 
The Admiral's property and curse his limbs 
With chains. Behold the wrongs upon his life! 

FoNS. Thou hast redressed those slights. 

Juan. Those slights? 

FoNS. Mere slights. How easily he doth retrieve 
The title Admiral, Viceroy, what not; ha! 
His brain storm was pent up; cloud wrapt until 
We came and then it burst. Why, his eye-fire, 
That burned more fierce than meteors glare, would soon 
Have fused the innocent chains themselves, had we 
Not poised their flash in some restraint by our 
Arrival. When his wrath had ceased, he poured 
His specious pleas of service and good will 
Into— 

IsAB. O Bishop, hold thy peace, for thou 
Dost speak unjustly. 

Juan. May God bless thee, O Queen ! 

ISAB. We will forbid that Colon touch upon 
The isle Hispaniola, when he sails. 

FoNS Why let him sail at all, for are there not 
More useful mariners of Spain, who hope 
To flourish their limp canvas 'fore the wind, 
And thus outstrip the Portuguese, who are 
Already profiting by India's wealth? 

IsAB. Thou can'st not move me more. 

FoNS. So then thou wilt 

Add to the realm's expense and let him make 
His fourth, — a useless voyage — ? 



112 COLUMBUS 

IsAB. His path's 

The best to India's mines, and he shall sail ; 
It is my will. {To the Alcalde.) I thank you for your 

love 
To Colon. 

Alcal. Your Majesty, you honor me. 

(Juan and Fonseca how to the Queen, who, an instant 
later, accompanied by the Alcalde and her retinue, 
goes out at the left. Beatrice follows after.) 
FoNS. What favors to a dog, a Genoese, 

To dredge our coffers with Ambition's scoop 

And lose our gold over its brim-full sides 

In buying riot and misgovernment. 

Why he demanded pardon of our thieves 

To sail with him for other crimes ! The dog, 

He kicked my servant, Breviesca, but now 

n kick him to the earth as well. 
Juan. O Bishop, 

He suffered long and bore much silently. 

Until his righteous temper burst; forgive him. 

{Re-enter the Alcalde.) 

FoNS. I hope the Ocean, when he's next upon it. 
May swell in just contention with his pride, 
And then, distempered by his stinging curse 
Upon its waves, it will imprison him 
Within its gruesome depths ! Shipwrecks and storms 
Be his ! Then let his gallant limbs outrace 
Wave-ridiijg Death or loose its chains with words! 
Ah, dog, I kick you. {Kicks at the air.) 



COLUMBUS 113 

Alcal. Bishop, — not in my presence. 

That dog's my friend. No curses shall resound 
Upon him here. 

Juan. Brave man; I too, protest. 

Against this insolence. 

FoNS. {Moving to the right.) And if his frame, 
Grown lean in flesh, but heavier with his pride, 
Doth reach the shore, let it refuse his tread, 
And ocean's end be quicksand for his own. 
{He hurries out.) 

Juan. Ah, Hate is basest in a prelate's heart, 
And damns a soul, even before it has 
Been worded by the tongue, but when released, 
It ravages the fields of gentle peace. 

Alcal. 'Tis true, good friar. 

Juan. My God forgive him, tho. 

Alcal. Come, let us go see if the Admiral 
Is quartered well and resting. 

Juan. Good man, we will. 

{Both go out at the left.) 



ACTV. 
Scene i. 
Place: Same as in last act. 
Time: Five and one-half years later than previous 

scene, or about May 1st, 1506. 
{Enter at the right two mariners and a courtier, who 
converse as they slowly pass by.) 



114 COLUMBUS 

Ctr. Is it so? 

1ST Mar. Quite plainly so. I have just landed from 
Lisbon and saw there three of the prettiest caravels 
that ever sailed, unload their pearls and amber; 
their woods from Hindoo forests and their silver 
from its mines. 

Ctr. Ah, but Portugal is growing rich by these new 
voyages, and Spain has nothing yet. 

2ND Mar. Ever since Vasco de Gama doubled Afric's 
southern cape and found the Indies that way, the 
Portuguese coffers have been waxing fat. 

Ctr. Where are our Spanish captains? Where's 
Ojeda and Pedro Nina? 

1ST Mar. Since last August, when they arrived here 
with some carriage of pearl and gold, they have 
been at sea. 

Ctr. Spain must do better than that. Our power 
depends upon our import of gold. (/) My, how 
those Portuguese furrow the sea. 

2ND Mar. Yes; there was Pedro Cabral who fol- 
lowed Gama, and others too; selling their knick- 
knacks to the ignorant heathen for ivory and gold. 

1ST Mar. Still, Spain has some intrepid sea-dogs 
hounding the main. Look at the Pinzons, Diego 
Lepe, and Bastides. 'Twill not be long now before 
the waves push many richly laden prows into our 
ports. These are mariners for you. 

Ctr. And they would not have been so dilatory about 
that golden tide, if the late Queen had not restored 
half the monopoly of that Genoese, Colon. 



COLUMBUS US 

1ST Mar. Colon, Colon, ha ! I had not thought of him 

for months. What's become of him now? 
Ctr. I can't say with certainty, but I think he's at 

Valladolid, still supplicating the court for lost 

honors. 
2ND Mar. Since Isabella died {h) he's lost his hold 

there, no doubt. 
Ctr. O well, it won't do him much ill. You knew he 

was shipwrecked a year on the Jamaica sands 

did'ent you ? 
1ST Mar. I did not know it was for so long. A whole 

year! Poor man; who rescued him? 
Ctr. 'Twas not far from Hispanioia, and Ovando, 

out of sheer pity, sent a caravel to his aid. 
1ST Mar. He was long enough about it, to be sure. 

I can't see much pity in that. 
Ctr. But Ovando had other work. He was very 

busy suppressing the warlike natives, and needed 

his ships. 
1ST Mar. Very likely ; but Colon gave us the islands, 

and he needed rescue. 
Ctr. There's not much that he gave us, and in the 

glut of mariners, his singleness has slumped in 

power. Our own captains have made the real gains. 

sir. 
1ST Mar. As you please, sir. I was only speaking 

my mind. 
2ND Mar. These are new times. 'Tis fourteen year 

since Colon put out from Palos harbor. He belongs 

to the old days. 



ii6 COLUMBUS 

Ctr. Yes, and the old always think that the new 

times chide them, as he does no doubt. 
1ST Mar. I judge he's been chided well in his day 

by salty winds and human tongues. Peace to him. 

He was a brave soul. 
Ctr. Tho very intemperate with his flinty claims and 

his many promises, always more lavish than his 

deeds. 
1ST Mar. Ah, sir, that's a part of nature. How else 

could he get anything done ? 
Ctr. Stop; here come Bishop Deza and Friar Juan 

Perez, and they look so sad. 
{Enter Deza and Perez from the opposite direction.) 
Ctr. Thy good face. Father Perez, is a pattern of 

woe this morning. What weighs upon thy heart? 
Juan. The loneliness of a great man, my son, who is 

dying in poverty and distress. 
Ctr. Ah, who is that? 
Juan. Colon the navigator, whom our people have 

forgotten. 
1ST Mar, In poverty and distress? God help him. 
Ctr. Why, we were just now speaking of him. 
Deza. And we are on our way to his bedside. 
Ctr. Where is he? 
Deza. At Valladolid. 
Ctr. Ah, so far away. 

Juan. His soul will soon be farther, poor man. 
Deza. We must hurry on. We have not many days 

for preparation and travel; perhaps fewer than he 

has on Earth. 



COLUMBUS 117 

1ST Mar. Father, tell him two humble mariners love 

his soul and have not forgotten him. 
Deza. Yes, my son. 

Juan. We must be going. May God be v^^ith you. 
Deza. {Turning away.) Good bye. 

{They pass on hurriedly and go out at the right,) 

Ctr. Well Fm sorry for him. Good day. 

{He moves out in the opposite direction.) 

1ST Mar. So Colon's about to embark again. 

{As they slowly pass on in their original direction.) 

2ND Mar. And every one's forgotten him except 
those good men. 

1ST Mar. His loneliness must be very bitter. Ah, I 
remember the day he returned and told us of his 
discovery. Oh, what rejoicing there was, and how 
the people clamored around him in their love. 

2ND Mar. {As they pass out together.) But see him 
now. 

{Enter an instant later from the opposite direction 
Bishop Fonseca, followed by Bishop Deza and 
Friar Juan Perez.) 

FoNS. No, I say no, urge it on me no more. 

Deza. O Bishop, thou hast power with the King; 
Go ; beseech him now ; Colon is dying. 
Those promises long unfilled, will soothe 
His passing soul and give him peace. 

FoNS. Dying is he? Well, we'l all do that no doubt. 
Besides he can not take his honors with him. 



ii8 COLUMBUS 

Juan. Bishop, Bishop how can you speak so? 

Deza. He craves such worldly solace 'ere he dies 
*Tis for himself now; when he's dead, his son. 

Juan. Make us no longer fellows in his woe. 
O Bishop, beseech the King; bid him restore 
Col'n's properties, arrears of revenues; 
Pay of his men; his titles, dignities 
Bestowed upon him with the royal seal. 
And let him be as he has been, viceroy 
Over the isles, an Admiral o'er the sea. 
The well beloved Queen gave him her word 
For these just dues, but she is dead and he 
Is scorned. 

FoNS. You are the index of his claims? 
Well; show me first the chapters of his worth. 
To rule again where he hath failed and such; 
The index follow after. The King agreed 
To arbitrate — 

Deza. Yes, Colon named me as judge 
,And thus consented to the King's demand 
In all except a judgment on his honors. 

FoNS. Well ; he brought no gold on his last voyage. 

Deza. But he discovered mines and then postponed 
Their tillage 'till a settlement were made^ 
And thus secure the gold without a war. 

FoNS. Your tongues may flourish all woes, his claims 
And boasts, thus overprove his worth, but it's 
Contentions are contrivances of air 
So filtered as they pass my ears, my mind 
Can find no reasoning sounds in them. 



COLUMBUS 119 

Deza. The doors of thy two ears are dosed, as are 
Those of thy heart. But open its and then 
Shalt hear, altho thy ears be ever stopped. 

Juan. O Bishop, the Admiral is dying, 
Neglected, lone, forgotten, spurned. My heart 
Which holds two visions of his life, his triumph 
And his oblivion's no more peace than he. 
O intercede ! The King will smile more true 
Upon thy words. 

FoNS. I tell thee no, no, no. 

Juan. O wouldst thou wanton with his bruised heart 
When thou couldst heal his sore and give him peace, 
Peace as he dies? 

FoNS. I would. 

Juan. Art thou of God? 

Deza. Bishop, once more I ask thee, — plead with the 
King 
To solace that great heart that palpitates 
When all its fears and angers should be spent. 

FoNS. Once more I say it no. {Moving on,) I will 
not plead 
For Haughtiness wide as the sea he crossed. 
So let it bruise him 'till he dies and then 
Be recompensed hereafter with his soul. 

{He goes out at the left.) 

Juan. Merciful God, forgive him, forgive him. 
Deza. We must resume our way; there's no more 
chance 
Of gaining anything by words. 



120 COLUMBUS 

Juan. No more. 

Since Isabella's death his bitter wounds 
Lie unavenged. Now they grow rash and burn 
In these cold airs of public hate and scorn, but let 
Us haste to him to soothe his hours of death. 

{They pass out at the right.) 



Scene 2. 

Place: Valladolid, Spain, whither Colon had gone 

with the Court in his ineffectual endeavor to obtain 

his demands. 
Time: May 20th, 1506. 
In a sparsely furnished room; Colon lies on the bed; 

the chains he wore hang to the left above his head; 

some documents, maps and letters are scattered 

about. 
Diego and Ferdinand^ his two sons, stand near his 

right side; Beatrice Enriquez kneels at his left, 

and clasps his hand. (I) 
Col. My voyages are done ; I tramped the sea 
And was a shadow on the Deep, but now 
My days have slipped so fast, those passages 
Seem as a weaver's shuttle in its flight. 
My foot prints were in water, — they have passed — 
As I am passing now to sail a sea 
Whereon I have not yet embarked. 

Beat. Thou goest 

With furrows on thy brow; hollows in cheeks 



COLUMBUS 121 

Which prove that thou hast ploughed Earth's cavernous 

waves. 
God sees their imprints there and cries: Well done. 
Thou goest: I remain to prove my love 
For thee with a vindictive grace, brave heart. 
I weep to see thee thus deserted here; — 
Thou, who hast once so gathered all the world 
About the dais of thy conquering quest! 
O soul of iron and amber, — hold thy faith. 
As I have urged before, — press on, press on, 
And God shall judge. 

Col. I love thee; for thee my soul 

Doth bear a burden as I go. Thou shalt 
Be cared for while thou livest here. 

{Enter Juan Perez and Bishop Deza. Beatrice 
arises; draws hack from the bed.) 

Col. O ye good m.en, ye come to see me die ! 
But quick, what news ? Is ought to be restored to me ? 

Deza. My son, bad news. 

Juan. We could accomplish nothing. 

Col. O God help me to bear these bruises yet! 
My twenty years of toil for Spain doth end 
With this reward, — Ingratitude! How all 
Dishonor whom the King delights to spurn! 
Thou pompous world, each of thy glories has 
Its grating hinge, which lends the glis'ning page 
The means to turn its bare ungilded leaf 
Unto the eye that is not drossed by sin. 
How oft doth Life, attacked by fantasy, 
Her numbers change and tread another measure! 



122 COLUMBUS 

Deza. Triumph man, thou art most basely thrust 
From thy heaven high reward, and now we find 
Thine island-grief amidst a native sea 
Of scoffs and cares ; girt by the waves of cold 
Ingratitude. 

Col. Mine sinks within the Deep. 

Juan. My son, I blessed thee as thou didst embark 
Upon the Earthly sea, I bless thee now 
As thou dost venture on the Heavenly one 
With braver faith. 

Col. O nevermore shall I 

Cleave furrows in the ocean-meads nor mold 
Upon the plastic Deep a glassy path 
Behind my ships, nor from watch-towers behold 
The morning sun pave the' orient main with fire. — 
Thou eloquent Orb of gold, beloved Oriflamme, 
Thou constant lightning of my quest, I see 
Thee yet, arise with glorious pace above 
The East, and now, sublimity indolent. 
Descend into the West! God calls me; so 
The sea. I falter? No; great Lord, I come. 
Thou dear old Ocean, comrade, helper, bride 
Of my departing soul ; longwooed and loved ; 
Thou blessed partner in my quest; thou Heav'n 
Crowned power of inspiration, fare thee well! 
Thy wilderness wherein I plunged; upon 
Whose pliant and whose changing page, I penned 
With sturdy hulls a triple wake: of faith, 
Of will, of enterprise, shall nevermore 
Retrieve its pristine wild ; its virgin myster>r. 



COLUMBUS 123 

Nor be again the prehistoric lair 
Of boisterous ill, of demons, omens ; nor 
Shall it dissuade Adventure's bounding heart. 
Deny my conquest as those scoffers do ! 

Juan. My son, 'twill not; have peace and hold thy 
faith. 
Thy soul shall voyage ever and when thou 
Dost double this new cape — of death— thou shalt 
Then find more capes to pass, more seas to cross 
And suns of wond'rous light and glorious gold, 
For thy pursuit.— O push thy soul's prow there ! 

Col. Yea, Juan, I shall do so soon, but now 
This bed, — resistless hermitage of age, — 
Cabins my limbs, yet not in penance ; no ! 
For they have walked the waters by command; 
Obeyed God's own injunction, done his will. 
Heaven's commissary gazes on my soul. 
And it awaits the charge for other quests. 

{Last Sacraments are administered.) 
Col. I am at peace with God, but not with man. 

My tillage, twenty years ; oceans well ploughed ; 

Lands found. Spring crops ? O no ; I die too soon. 

The harvest moon will wax when I am gone 

And others carol in the sheathing hour. 

My chains are there yet? Yes; links now unloosed. 

My life's links too, are loosening, God does that. 

But their long anchorage is dragging some. 
Juan. Peace, peace, God waiteth nigh. 
^EZA. God! take his souL 



124 COLUMBUS 

Col. O Death, Death, thou art faltering, not I! 
Unreel thy cords ; there — my cold feet are twined. 

Beat. {Leaping to his side.) Beloved soul, adieu! 

Col. Farewell Beatrice. 

My sons. Good bye! 

(Diego and Ferd. come closer; Diego holds his hand; 
Ferd rests his on Col.'s forehead,) 

Diego. Father, I'l cherish thy cause forever. 

Ferd. Good bye. Father, Fl honor thee all my days. 

Deza. My son, Farewell. 

Juan. Farewell and now may God pilot thee. 

{Momentary silence.) 

CoL. Haste, O Death ! Be not relentless in slowth ; 
Cross out my earthly memory; let me 
Recall no more! My services, twenty years! 
Such zeal, such diligence as if to gain 
Sweet Paradise thereby! — Take me, O Death. 
Divorce me from these earthly miseries. 
O bear me on thy tide ! Let me thus pace 
No more the frontiers of thy mystic Deep ! 
Unguessed leagues ; calm waves ; other lands ! 
O welcome sea, — thy brine, — it will not smart my bruise. 

Juan. Peace! Christ's peace be thine. 

{Momentary silence.) 

Col. O hasten, sluggish Death, be not indifferent. 
Descend, O sun, into this untried sea; 
n follow; God is there, I know; and Christ. 
ri meet them soon. 



COLUMBUS 125 

Deza. Let not your heart be troubled. 

{A pause,) 
Col. O sweet Death, thy ductile cords are creeping! 
{Another pause.) 
Now, — there — God, take my arm, (Raises his right arm 

a little.) lead me forth; thus — (Pause.) 
Into thy hands my spirit I commend. 
(His arm falls; his head sinks to one side and he expires. 
All but Juan and Deza kneel about his bed; they 
stand near the foot; silence a moment.) 



The End. 



SIGNATURE OF COLUMBUS 

». A. ». 

X. m. f. 

The upper letters represent a " pious ejaculation." 

The lower ones, are a combination of the Greek 

anJ Latin, meaning, literally, Christ-hearing. 



NOTES. 



(a) I have arranged that Colon go to the Convent 
before his reception at the Spanish Court, tho this may 
not be correct. Writers on Columbus differ on this 
point. The first visit, according to the theory adopted, 
occurred about 1484. The second, in 1491, after seven 
years of dreary and unsuccessful efforts in his ambition. 
Justin Winsor declares that it is almost hopeless to settle 
Columbus' movements with accuracy before he embarked 
on his first voyage. 

(b) Columbus had his interview at Court, then his 
examination by the council in St. Stephen's Convent. 
Salamanca. The latter had no official connection with 
the University of Salamanca. For dramatic purposes 
these occasions are included in one scene. 

(c) These were the errors of Columbus' computa- 
tion: he underestimated the circumference of the globe 
by about 4,000 miles; considered that Asia extended 
eastward much farther than it does and consequently 
thought that his sea voyage would be only 2,571 geo- 
graphical miles or about one-seventh of the globe He 
sailed a total of 3,230 geographical miles before reaching 
America. He relied upon the Apocryphal book Esdras 
in which it is stated that the Earth is one-seventh water. 

His excusable ignorance, (shared by the wise men 
of his time,) was very providential. 

(127) 



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